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Book L__^_ 



ELEMENTS 



OF 






THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY 
AND SCIENCE. 



LONDON : 
PRINTED BY R. CLAY, DEVONSHIRE STREET, BISHOPSGATE. 



ELEMENTS 



OF 



THE HISTORY 



PHILOSOPHY AND SCIENCE, 



FROM THE 



<&avlie&t %Lufymtic Utcovtw 



THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 



BY THOMAS MORELL, 

AUTHOR OF "STUDIES IN HISTORY," &C &C. 



LONDON: 

PRINTED FOR B. J. HOLDSWORTH, 

18, st. paul's church-yard. 
1827. 



V 






PREFACE, 



The principal contents of this elementary volume 
were first collected solely with a view to private 
academical instruction, and intended to be accom- 
panied with additional oral information. This cir- 
cumstance is stated to account for the technical and 
didactic form in which they appear. Had it been 
the primary design of the Author to submit his 
work to the public eye, he would probably have 
adopted a less scholastic arrangement of his sub- 
jects, and indulged in greater freedom of compo- 
sition; but the information would, in that case, 
have been less condensed, the method less perspi- 
cuous, and the volume itself, though more generally 
attractive, of less intrinsic value. 

There are several classes of persons to whom the 
Author ventures to hope the present Work may 



VI PREFACE. 

prove acceptable and useful. It may revive, in the 
minds of those who have formerly passed through 
a course of scientific education, some agreeable 
recollections of pursuits and objects, which have 
almost faded from their remembrance. It may 
serve, in some degree, to guide the inquiries and 
stimulate the exertions of those, who, having com- 
pleted the elementary process of classical literature, 
are just entering upon the higher departments of 
philosophy and science. Nor will it be wholly 
uninteresting, it is presumed, to others, who, placed 
in circumstances less favourable to the acquisition 
of knowledge, yet eager in its pursuit, are desirous 
of finding, within a narrow compass, and ready 
collected to their hands, a mass of information on 
scientific subjects, which they have neither leisure 
nor opportunity to collect for themselves. The 
Author will be happy, if the labour bestowed on 
the compilation of the following pages shall con- 
tribute, in any degree, to supply the wants, or 
gratify the wishes, of these several classes of intel- 
lectual inquirers. 

It is the business of the historian faithfully to 
record, not to invent. All, therefore, that can 



PREFACE. Vll 

reasonably be expected of him is, that he look well 
to the accuracy of his statements, and the credibility 
of his authorities. Under this conviction, the 
Writer of the present Volume felt himself at full 
liberty to gather, from any authentic source to 
which he had access, whatever was suited to his 
purpose, whether found among the records of 
antiquity, or in the works of modern authors of 
acknowledged reputation. In a performance of 
this description, which is avowedly a compilation, 
making no pretensions to originality, but solely 
to fidelity of narration, the Author presumes he 
will not be chargeable with an improper use of 
the literary labours of others, if he have, in many 
instances, preferred to adopt the words of the 
respective authors themselves, instead of investing 
their recorded facts with his own phraseology. 

It was at first the intention of the Writer, to 
have appended to each lesser division of his work, 
a complete list of authorities, both ancient and 
modern ; but, on reflection, it appeared to him, 
that these numerous references, besides occupying 
a considerable space, would rather look like a 
parade of extensive reading, than answer any 



Vlll PREFACE. 

valuable purpose. He determined, therefore, to 
confine his references either to direct quotations, 
or to those specific cases in which ampler infor- 
mation might be desired than could be given 
in these elementary pages. 

It will be seen, that the Author closes his retro- 
spect with the commencement of the eighteenth 
century. His principal reasons for doing so are, 
that the age of Locke and Newton constitutes 
a most remarkable aera in the history of the 
human mind, since these illustrious individuals 
may justly be accounted founders of new schools 
in physical and intellectual science; that, subse- 
quently to that period, the ramifications of human 
knowledge have become so numerous, as to require 
a series of volumes for even the most cursory 
review ; and, especially, because a variety of small 
elementary works already exist, in which the 
later improvements of science are accurately and 
minutely described. 

The Writer of this Volume is not so presumptuous 
as to imagine, that the eye of criticism will not 
detect some inaccuracies or omissions, into which 



PREFACE. IX 

he may have inadvertently fallen, while taking 
so wide a range, and touching upon so great a 
variety of subjects. He knows not whether it 
will be admitted as an apology for such imper- 
fections in his Work, that it was written amidst 
the pressure of numerous important avocations ; 
and that he could only devote to its compilation, 
fragments of time, snatched with difficulty from 
his official duties. Should such inaccuracies or 
omissions be found, when his volume shall have 
been submitted to the test of enlightened criticism, 
the Writer will most thankfully receive such sug- 
gestions, from whatever quarter they may proceed ; 
and, if a future opportunity present itself, will 
practically express his obligations, by endeavouring 
to correct the former or to supply the latter. 

Wymondley College, 
May 25, 1827. 



CONTENTS, 



INTRODUCTION. 

PAGE 

Sect. i. Preliminary and Explanatory Remarks . . 1 
ii. Classification of the Objects of Human Know- 
ledge .... 6 

in. Plan and Design of the Work 12 



PART I. 

ORIENTAL PHILOSOPHY. 

Sect. i. Assyria, Babylonia, and Chaldea 

ii. China . 

in. India . 

iv. Persia 

v. Arabia 

vi. Egypt . 

vii. Phoenicia 



16 

25 

36 

43 

53 / 

59 

67 



PART II. 

THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE GREEKS AND ROMANS. 
Chaf. I. The Fabulous Ages 



72 



Chap. II. General Classification of the Ancient 

Philosophers 81 



Xll CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Chap. III. The Abstract Sciences. 

Sect. i. History of Mathematics (from a.c 640—300) 91 

ii. continued, (from a. c. 300— a. n. 400) 97 

Chap. IV. Ancient Physics. 

Sect. i. Origin and Progress of Astronomical Science 

in Greece 105 

ii. History of Astronomy, continued . . . . 112 

hi. Origin and Progress of Mechanical Science . 121 

iv. ■ of Hydrodynamics . . 128 

v. Pneumatic Discoveries of the Ancients . . 134 

vi. Optical Discoveries of the Ancients . . . 137 



Chap. V. Ancient Dialectics. 

Sect. i. On the Origin of Logical Science . . . . 145 

ii. Dialectics of Plato and the Academics . . 150 

in. Dialectics of Aristotle and the Peripatetics . 155 

iv. Dialectics of Zeno and the Stoics .... 166 

v. General Remarks on the Dialectics of the 

Ancients 172 

Chap. VI. Ancient Metaphysics. 

Sect. i. Origin and Progress of Metaphysical Science 

among the Philosophers of Greece . . . . 178 
ii. On the Metaphysical Opinions of Socrates, 

Plato, and the Academics 184 

hi. On the Metaphysical System of Aristotle and 

the Peripatetics 194 

iv. On the Metaphysical Speculations of Zeno 

and the Stoics 201 

v. Sketch of the Eclectic Sect, and Summary of 

their Metaphysical Tenets 208 

Chap. VII. Ancient Ethics. 

Sect. i. Origin and Progress of Ethical Science among 

the Philosophers of Greece and Rome . 217 



CONTENTS, Xlll 

PAGE 

.Sect. ii. On the Ethics of Plato and the Academics . 222 

in. of Aristotle and the Peripatetics 226 

iv. ■ of Zeno and the Stoics . . . 230 

v# of the Epicurean Sect . . . 233 

yi. On the Ethical System of the Eclectics . . 238 



PART III. 

HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY AND SCIENCE DURING THE 
MIDDLE AGES. 

Chap. I. Introductory. 
Sect. i. Causes of the Decay of Literature .... 241 
ii, Arranged List of the Philosophers of the 

Middle Ages 246 

Chap. II. The History of Physical Science during 
the Middle Ages. 
Sect. i. On the Revival of Mathematical Science among 

the Arabians 249 ' 

ii. On the Arabian Astronomers 254 

in. Progress of Experimental Philosophy among 

the Arabians 262 - 

iv. On the European Mathematicians and Astro- 
nomers of the Middle Ages 267 

v. On the State of Physical Science in Europe 

during the Middle Ages 275 

Chap. III. The History of Intellectual Science during 
the Middle Ages. 
Sect. i. History of Logic (continued from p. 177) . 285 
it. Origin and General View of the Scholastic 

Philosophy 293 

hi. Biographical Notices of Scholastic Philosophers 298 
iv. Scholastics of the Middle Period .... 307 
v. Scholastics of the Third Period . . . . 314 



XIV CONTENTS. 



PART IV. 

HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY AND SCIENCE FROM THE REVIVAL 
OF LETTERS TO THE CLOSE OF THE 11th CENTURY. 

PAGE 

Chap. I. Introductory. 

Sect. i. On the Causes of the Revival of Letters . . 320 
ii. Classification of Intellectual and Scientific 

Philosophers of the 1 6th and 1 7th Centuries 326 

Chap. II. The Progress of the Abstract Sciences. 

Sect. i. On the Mathematicians of the 16th Century . 330 

ii. from 1600—1650 . 336 

in.. from 1650— 1700 . 343 

iv. On the Mathematical Discoveries of Sir Isaac 

Newton 350 

Chap. III. History of Physical Science continued. 

I. Astronomy. 

Sect. i. On the Astronomers of the 16th Century . 357 

ii. from 1600—1650 . 369 

ni. , from 1650— 1700 . 375 

iv. On the Astronomical Discoveries of Sir Isaac 

Newton 382 

II. Dynamics and Mechanics. 

Sect. i. On the Progress of Mechanical Science during 

the 16th Century 390 

ii. ■ continued during the 

17th Century 398 

in. On the Mechanical Discoveries of Sir Isaac 

Newton 404 

III. Hydrodynamics and Pneumatics. 

Sect. i. History of Hydrostatics, &c. from 1600—1 650, 409 
„. from 1650—1700, 414 



CONTENTS. XV 



IV. Optics. 

PAGE 

Sect. i. On the Progress of Optical Science during the 

16th Century 419 

ii. History of Optics, from 1600— 1650 . . . 427 

m . . from 1650— 1700 ... 433 

iv. On the Optical Discoveries of Sir Isaac Newton 438 
v. Sketch of the History of Experimental Science 

during the 17th Century 446 

vi. General Remarks on the Philosophy of Sir 

Isaac Newton 456 

Chap. IV. Progress of the Intellectual Sciences}. 
Sect. i. On the Gradual Subversion of Scholastic 

Philosophy 462 

ii. On the Reformation of Intellectual Philosophy 

by Lord Bacon 472 

in. Sketch oftiie Literary History of Lord Bacon 479 
iv. Summary View of the Philosophy of Lord 

Bacon 485 

v. General View of the Intellectual Character of 

Lord Bacon . 491 

vi. Sketch of the Life and Writings of Des Cartes 496 
vn. Summary View of the Cartesian Philosophy 501 
viii. Principal Writers on Jurisprudence during 

the 16th and 17th Centuries 507 

ix. On the Metaphysicians of the 17th Century . 514 

x. Sketch of the Literary History of Leibnitz . 522 

xi. Summary View of the Philosophy of Leibnitz 526 

xii. Sketch of the Literary History of Locke . . 533 

xm. Summary View of the Metaphysical System 

of Locke 539 



WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR. 



I. 

HISTORY OF ENGLAND, from the period of the Ancient Britons 
to the Death of George III. In a Series of Essays, accompanied with 
Reflections, References to original Authorities, and Historical Questions. 
2 vols. 8vo. \l. As. boards. 



II. 

HISTORY OF ENGLAND, for the Use of Schools. 2 vols. 12mo. 
lis. boards. Fifth Edition. 



III. 

HISTORY OF ROME, from its earliest Records to the Death of 
Constantine. With a Map. 8vo. 10s. Qd. boards 



IV. 

HISTORY OF ROME, for the Use of Schools. With the Map. 
12mo. 5s. boards. Sixth Edition. 



HISTORY OF GREECE. With a Map of Ancient Greece. 8vo. 
10s. 6d. boards. 



VI. 

HISTORY OF GREECE, for the Use of Schools. With the Map. 
12mo. 5s. boards. Fifth Edition. 



ELEMENTS 



OF THE 



HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY AND SCIENCE. 



INTRODUCTION. 
Section I. 

PRELIMINARY AND EXPLANATORY REMARKS. 

1. The department of History, which the present 
work is intended to embrace, is most extensive, and 
perpetually increasing in interest and in importance. 
To trace back knowledge to its source — to mark 
(if it be possible) the precise points, from which all 
the innumerable rays of science have diverged, by 
which the world has been illumined, and the direc- 
tions they have severally taken — to observe the 
progress of the human mind through all its succes- 
sive stages of improvement, from the first and 
feeblest efforts of human genius, to its boldest flights 
and loftiest elevation — to survey attentively the 
aeras which have been most memorable, and the 
individuals who have been most celebrated in the 
annals of philosophy and science ; — these are objects 



2 INTRODUCTION. [jSECT. I. 

which cannot fail to interest the intellectual en- 
quirer, far more than the afflicting details of human 
vice and misery, with which the pages of general 
history have too commonly been filled. Especially 
is it desirable in a day like the present, in which new 
and important discoveries are continually making 
in almost every department of general knowledge, 
that the earliest indications should be observed of 
those intellectual advances, which have contributed, 
in no ordinary degree, to the improvement of society, 
and the happiness of mankind. 

2. Many are the gradations through which the 
mind of man must necessarily pass, in advancing 
from that state of barbarism and ignorance, in which 
the great mass of the population of our globe once 
was, to that high degree of civilization and refine- 
ment, which many amongst them have subsequently 
attained. In some cases the process was slow and 
almost imperceptible ; in others, it has been rapid 
and brilliant, so that its course may be distinctly 
traced. The stream of knowledge has, at some 
periods, gently flowed from land to land, becoming 
wider and deeper as its course extended ; at others, 
it burst forth, like an impetuous torrent, with 
mighty and resistless energy, surmounting every 
obstacle, and bearing down all opposition. In almost 
every instance, however, it will be found that the 
origin of the arts and sciences is veiled in impene- 
trable obscurity ; nor is it till considerable advances 
had been made in them, or some distinguished 
individual arose, who gave celebrity, by his genius 
and talents, to the science in which he excelled, 



SECT. I.] INTRODUCTION. 3 

that the historian is able even to ascertain their 
existence : and subsequently to the period of their 
commencement, in endeavouring to describe their 
progress, it is amidst much uncertainty and many 
fabulous traditions, that he can make his way to the 
clear day-light of historic truth. 

3. The terms Philosophy and Science, have some- 
times been confounded, though they have obviously 
an appropriate and definite signification. It may 
not indeed be necessary that the distinction between 
them should, on all occasions, be distinctly marked ; 
nor will it perhaps be found that, in the following 
pages, that distinction has been uniformly preserved 
with logical accuracy; but at the commencement 
of a work professedly designed to give an outline 
of the history both of philosophy and science, it is 
manifestly proper that their precise import should 
be explained, and their respective boundaries de- 
fined. The term Philosophy was primarily used to 
denote the pursuit of Wisdom, and applied indis- 
criminately to every object of human knowledge. 
It comprehended all the subjects of investigation, 
about which the powers of the human understanding 
can be employed, — whether physical, intellectual, 
or moral, — whether speculative, theoretical, or prac- 
tical. Originally all men of learning, however 
slender their attainments might be, were dignified 
with the appellation of <ro$oi, or Wise Men, But 
in process of time this truly honourable title fell into 
discredit, having been assumed by mere pretenders 
to knowledge and erudition ; so that the name, which 
was at first an enviable distinction, became a term 

b 2 



4 INTRODUCTION. [SECT. I. 

of obloquy and an occasion of reproach. This led 
the more intelligent and modest among the ancient 
men of letters to appropriate to themselves the 
appellation of Philosophers, as indicating that they 
were rather to be accounted the admirers of wisdom, 
and persons ardently engaged in its pursuit, than 
in actual possession of this invaluable treasure. But 
many years had not elapsed, ere this title also be- 
came as perverted and degraded, as that which had 
preceded it, insomuch that every inventor of a new 
theory, however absurd and frivolous, assumed to 
himself the name of a Philosopher. The abuse of 
a term is, however, no just argument against its 
proper and legitimate use. If the definitions of the 
illustrious Bacon be correct, who terms it, in one 
part of his admirable writings, " Scientia rerum 
cum causis" and in another place, " Interpretatio 
naturcE ;" if its primary object be the discovery and 
development of truth, and if its influence and ten- 
dency be to improve the condition and augment the 
happiness of man, by increasing his knowledge of 
God, of himself, and of the world which he inhabits, — 
it may well deserve the ardent and unwearied 
pursuit of every intelligent mind. 

4. Science, as its very etymology would indicate, 
bears nearly the same relation to knowledge, which 
Philosophy bears to Wisdom. It has to do with 
facts rather than principles ; with practice, rather 
than abstract reasonings and speculations. While 
Philosophy is employed in the contemplation of phy- 
sical or moral truths, for the purpose of developing 
and explaining their hidden causes, their essential 



SECT. I.3 INTRODUCTION, 5 

or accidental properties, their mutual relations and 
modes of existence, it is the province of Science, 
properly so called, to bring these principles to bear 
on the convenience and comfort of mankind, to prove 
their utility, and to suggest methods of improve- 
ment. Thus, while Philosophy investigates the 
grounds of human judgment, or the fundamental 
laws of human belief, the Science of Logic shews 
how they may be best applied to the purposes of 
correct reasoning, and the elucidation or demonstra- 
tion of truth. If this representation be correct, it 
will be evident, that while Philosophy and Science 
have their distinct provinces, they are, at the same 
time, necessarily and intimately connected, — that 
every genuine philosopher will be, to a certain 
extent, a man of science, — and that whoever excels 
in any department of science, contributes essentially 
to the advancement of philosophical knowledge. 

5. It will, of course, be impossible that a pro- 
fessedly elementary work, taking so wide a range 
as the present, should include all, or even a thou- 
sandth part of that immense mass of information, 
which might, with the utmost propriety, be intro- 
duced into a History of Philosophy and Science. 
Such a work might not improperly comprehend a 
survey of all the doctrines and opinions of men, in 
all ages and countries, on philosophical and scientific 
subjects, — a review of the systems which have been 
devised and propagated, — and a development of all 
the discoveries which have been made in every de- 
partment of physical and moral science, or in the 
useful and ornamental arts, together with their 



6 CLASSIFICATION OF THE [SECT. II. 

progressive stages of improvement. It is hoped, 
however, that the youthful reader of these pages 
(for whose benefit and instruction they are chiefly 
designed) will bear in mind, and others need not 
to be admonished, that these volumes are but 
intended to exhibit the elements of these compre- 
hensive subjects ; and that it can be but a cursory 
glance which is taken of so vast an extent of scenery, 
interesting as every object it contains must neces- 
sarily be to the mind ardently engaged in the 
pursuit of knowledge. To compensate in some 
measure for this deficiency, the reader will be 
referred continually to other works, both ancient 
and modern, from which ample information may 
be obtained. 



Section II. 



GENERAL CLASSIFICATION OF THE OBJECTS OF HUMAN 
KNOWLEDGE. 

6. The title prefixed to this section may seem 
presumptuous, especially to those who may have 
read, with attention, the elaborate essay of Dugald 
Stewart on the subject, prefixed to his valuable 
" Dissertation on the Progress of Mental Philo- 
sophy since the Revival of Letters ;" in which that- 
distinguished writer, after having investigated the 
proposed arrangements of the various departments 



SECT. Il/] OBJECTS OF HUMAN KNOWLEDGE. 7 

of knowledge suggested by men of pre-eminent 
genius both in ancient and modern times, attempts 
to prove the insurmountable difficulty of the under- 
taking, at least in the present state of human science. 
Presumptuous indeed must that individual be, who 
should promise to himself the execution of a task, 
which a writer, who unquestionably ranks highest 
among the intellectual philosophers of the age, has 
abandoned as hopeless. No such design, however, 
is meditated by the present writer. All that he 
purposes is, to exhibit in one view the principal 
attempts which have been made towards the classi- 
fication of the objects of human investigation, with- 
out presuming to determine their philosophical 
accuracy, and still less to decide on their compara- 
tive merits. The importance of such a general 
survey, which (to adopt the language of a celebrated 
French writer) " should comprehend in one general 
scheme, all the various departments of study, arrange 
them into proper classes, and point out their mu- 
tual relations and dependencies," all must acknow- 
ledge ; while the difficulty of effecting it with logical 
precision, will be sufficiently evident from the brief 
notices about to be exhibited of the imperfect and 
unsuccessful attempts hitherto made. 

7. The most ancient philosophers of Greece 
divided the objects of human knowledge into three 
classes ; — Dialectics, which direct the operations of 
the mind, and teach the right application of its 
powers : — Physics, including under that term not 
only the structure of the universe and the pheno- 
mena of nature, but also the existence and attributes 



8 CLASSIFICATION OF THE [jSECT. II. 

of God, and the nature of the human soul ;— and 
Ethics, which treat of the personal and relative 
duties of moral and intelligent agents. But in 
process of time, the impropriety was felt of classing 
those departments of knowledge, which were purely 
intellectual, with those that related to material sub- 
stances and the objects of sense; and hence arose a 
further division, by which the properties and opera- 
tions of mind were distinguished from those of inert 
matter, the latter of which were exclusively deno- 
minated Physics, while to the former were assigned 
the appropriate names of Metaphysics and Pneu- 
matology. This general arrangement, which was 
founded in an attentive observation of the nature 
of things, has obtained, in a greater or less degree, 
in all subsequent ages, and among all civilized 
nations. 

8. One of the most illustrious of our countrymen, 
Lord Bacon, to whom philosophy owes no ordinary 
obligations, has proposed a somewhat different 
classification, which, both on account of its inge- 
nuity and the celebrity of its author, may justly claim 
our attention. Having stated that " memory, 
reason (strictly so called,) and imagination, are the 
three modes in which the mind operates on the 
subjects of its thoughts ;" he adds, " these three 
faculties suggest a corresponding division of human 
knowledge into three branches. 1. History, which 
derives its materials from Memory. 2. Philosophy, 
which is the product of Reason; and 3. Poetry, 
(comprehending under this term all the Fine Arts) 
which is the offspring of Imagination. This arrange- 



SECT. II.]] OBJECTS OF HUMAN KNOWLEDGE. 9 

ment, somewhat varied indeed from the order in 
which it is stated by the noble author, and rendered 
more complete in its classification by D'Alembert, 
one of the well-known authors of the French Ency- 
clopaedia, is fully stated, and defended with much 
ingenuity of reasoning in the Preface to that 
celebrated work. — Bac. Op. Vol. I. 

9. Another modern writer of high reputation, the 
celebrated author of the " Essay on the Human 
Understanding," has, in the close of that justly- 
admired Treatise, adopted almost literally the classi- 
fication of the ancients, though without intimating 
the source from which it was derived. " All," says 
Locke, " which can fall within the compass of 
the Human Understanding, being either, — 1st, The 
nature of things as they are in themselves, their 
relations, and their manner of operation ; or, 2dly, 
That which man himself ought to do, as a rational 
and voluntary agent, for the attainment of any end, 
especially happiness ; or, 3dly, the ways and means 
whereby the knowledge both of the one and the 
other of these is attained and communicated : I 
think Science may be divided properly into these 
three sorts : — 

" I. Physics, or Natural Philosophy, whereby I 
mean not only matter and body, but spirits also, 
which have their proper natures, constitutions, 
and operations, as well as body. The end of 
this is bare speculative truth, and whatsoever 
can afford the mind of man such knowledge 
falls under this branch. 

"II. Ethics, or the skill of rightly applying our 



10 ' CLASSIFICATION OF THE [SECT. II. 

own powers and actions for the attainment of 
things good and useful, and conducive to happi- 
ness. The end of this is not bare speculation 
and the knowledge of truth, but right, and a 
conduct suitable to it. 
" III. Logic, or the doctrine of Signs, the busi- 
ness whereof is to consider the nature of those 
signs which the mind makes use of for the un- 
derstanding of things, or conveying its know- 
ledge to others. This seems to me," concludes this 
celebrated author, " the first and most general, 
as well as natural division of the objects of our 
understanding." — Locke*s Essay, b. iv. c. 21. 

10, Sir W. Jones, a name not only identified with 
modern oriental literature, but with the loftiest 
attainments of human genius, when taking a general 
survey of the philosophy of the Asiatics, proposes 
the following classification : — " When man first 
exerts his powers, his objects are himself and the 
rest of nature. Next, he perceives himself to be 
composed of body and mind in his individual capa- 
city, and in his social character possessed of duties 
and rights, both private and public. Directing his 
intellect to nature at large, he is led to investigate 
the substance of natural bodies, their several pro- 
perties, and their quantity both separate and united, 
finite and infinite; whence are deduced notions, 
either purely abstract and universal, or mixed with 
undoubted facts, bearing the relation of causes and 
effects, until by this train he arrives at the demon- 
stration of a first intelligent Cause. Whence," adds 
this admirable writer, u his collected wisdom being 



SECT. II-3 OBJECTS OF HUMAN KNOWLEDGE. 11 

arranged in the form of science,, chiefly consists of 
physiology and medicine, —metaphysics and logic,-— 
ethics and jurisprudence, natural philosophy and 
mathematics, from which the religion of nature 
(since revealed religion must be referred to history, 
as alone affording evidence of it,) has in all ages 
and nations been the sublime and consoling result." 
Agreeably to this division of human knowledge, the 
learned author proceeds, in his elaborate Disserta- 
tions, to treat of the philosophy of the five great 
Asiatic nations. — Sir W, Jones's Works,Vo\. I. p. 160. 
11. To all the preceding classifications, (except 
the last, which does not appear to have fallen be- 
neath his notice), the author of the Dissertation, to 
which we have referred to at the beginning of this 
section, strongly objects, on the ground of their 
blending together subjects which are in themselves 
distinct, and arranging, under the same general 
head, branches of science the most uncongenial and 
remote. " Physics, he considers as properly re- 
stricted to the phenomena of matter — the appro- 
priate field of experiment and observation." But 
Ethics, Logic, the Philosophy of the Mind, or 
whatever other objects have been included under 
the general title of Metaphysics, all these are to be 
regarded as essentially distinct from the former, 
having to do alone with the phenomena of mind, 
and falling exclusively under the cognizance of 
reflection. Fully convinced of the justice, and even 
the necessity of this distinction, the author of the 
following Essays has endeavoured, especially in the 
more advanced periods of history, to observe this 



12 PLAN OF THE WORK. £SECT. III. 

boundary line, and assign to the physical and intel- 
lectual sciences their appropriate divisions. — Encyc. 
Brit. New Supp. Vol. I. Pref. p. 3—17. 



Section III. 

DESIGN AND PLAN OF THE WORK. 

12. From the preceding introductory remarks, 
the principal object of the writer of the following 
pages, in compiling the present work, and the species 
of information it is intended to convey, will be 
readily perceived. It professes not to take the 
entire range of ancient and modern Literature in 
all its numerous ramifications, for this w r ould require 
a degree of erudition to which the author can make 
no pretensions ; but merely to exhibit a kind of bird's 
eye view of the most important discoveries of hu- 
man genius in the departments of Philosophy and 
Science, marking, as we proceed, the seras when they 
took place, the persons by whom they w r ere made, 
and the successive stages of improvement through 
which they have passed. In attempting this, it will 
be requisite to attend both to the order of time, and 
the mutual relation, which the objects of human 
science bear to each other ; and this has constituted 
the chief difficulty in arranging the plan of the 
present work. If the chronological order were alone 
to be regarded, the attention of the youthful reader 
would be perplexed by a multitude of objects pro- 
miscuously presented to his view, and by perpetually 



SECT. Ill/] PLAN OF THE WORK. 13 

passing and repassing from one department of 
science to another : if, on the other hand, the pro- 
posed classification of the objects of human research 
were alone to be regarded, a more distinct know- 
ledge might indeed be possessed of each, but. their 
connexion with the history of mankind, and their 
relative bearings, would not be perceived.* Com- 
bining, therefore, as far as possible, both these 
objects, the following arrangement of subjects will 
be observed, as that which appears to be upon the 
whole the most convenient and useful. 

I. To divide the whole series of ages, a retro- 
spect of which is about to be taken, into four great 
periods. 

1. That of remote antiquity, " when the culti- 
vation of human knowledge was an exclusive occu- 
pation and a separate profession;" the principal 
records of which are confined to the oriental nations, 
and have been handed down by tradition from 
eastern priests and sages. 

2. The second period embraces the literary 
history of the Greeks and Romans, from the first 
colonization of the Grecian states, to the final dis- 
memberment and dissolution of the Roman Empire. 

3. The third will include a brief view of the state 
of Philosophy and Science, both in Europe and Asia, 
during the middle ages, — if the logomachies of the 
scholastics, and the feeble glimmerings of intellec- 

* A work thus arranged could scarcely be^deslgnated a history, 
however useful it might otherwise be. 



14 PLAN OF THE WORK. [jSECT. III. 

tual light that served but to make the surrounding 
darkness more visible, may be thus designated. 

4. The fourth and more important period will 
bring down the history of human knowledge, and 
trace the progress of mind, from the revival of 
letters, which took place about the fifteenth century, 
to the sera of Locke and Newton, which may be re- 
ferred to the close of the seventeenth. After this 
period, the ramifications of science became so nume- 
rous, and the field of general knowledge so enlarged, 
that to take even the most cursory review within the 
limits which the author has prescribed to himself, 
would be almost an impracticable attempt. This 
latter epoch has been fitly termed by a modern 
writer, " that of the second emancipation of science, 
in which she appears armed with better instru- 
ments, supplied with more abundant materials, and 
secured alike from attack or decay, by a happier 
order of society." 

II. The literary history of each of the above- 
mentioned periods will be subdivided : 

1. With reference to remote ages and countries 
geographically, that is, according to the relative 
positions which the several nations occupied in the 
map of the world ; for the records of that distant 
period are so brief and indistinct, that they will 
scarcely admit of a more minute classification. 

2. As we descend the stream of time, and ad- 
vance to the region of authentic history, the chro- 
nological order, in which scientific discoveries were 



SECT. III.)] PLAN OF THE WORK. 15 

made, or philosophical systems devised, will be more 
distinctly marked. 

3. In proceeding still farther, it will be attempted 
to sketch the history of the sciences separately, 
under the two great divisions of matter and mind, 
agreeably to the general classification suggested in 
the last section. 

4. In reviewing the latter of the above-mentioned 
periods, when men of genius and science began to 
crowd the arena, it will be desirable not only to 
distinguish the departments of physical and intel- 
lectual science, but to notice more particularly the 
individuals who contributed to their advancement, 
the order of time in which they flourished, their 
principal productions, and the influence of their 
writings and labours, both immediate and remote. 



PART I. 
ORIENTAL PHILOSOPHY. 



Section I. 

ASSYRIA/ BABYLONIA, AND CHALD^EA. 

13. It may be gathered from the most ancient 
historical document the world has ever known — 
the Book of Genesis — that considerable progress 
had been made in the practical sciences before the 
catastrophe of the universal Deluge. Whence the 
knowledge of the Antediluvians was derived, and 
how far it extended, can only be matter of conjec- 
tural and hypothetical reasonings ; since the brief 
notices of their history, recorded by the inspired 
author of the Pentateuch, furnish no data from 
which certain conclusions can now be drawn. The 
simple facts are stated, that cities were built, from 
which some elementary acquaintance with archi- 
tectural science may be inferred ; that certain 
individuals were artificers in brass and iron, and 
instructed others in the use of these valuable metals ; 
and that others both constructed musical instru- 
ments, and were sufficiently acquainted with the 



SECT. I.)] ASSYRIA AND CHALDJEA. 17 

science of music,, to teach others how to " handle" 
those instruments. Upon the same principles it 
may not unreasonably be conjectured, especially 
when the longevity of the patriarchs, and the faci- 
lities they possessed for communicating traditional 
knowledge, are considered, that the same ingenuity 
which led to these inventions would display itself in 
many other kindred arts and sciences. Josephus 
indeed asserts (but on what authority he omits to 
state), that " longevity was bestowed on them for 
the very purpose of improving the sciences of 
geometry and astronomy." 

14. After the Flood, the event which occasioned 
the dispersion of the human family seems to indicate 
no inconsiderable attainments in scientific know- 
ledge ; for, unless a far greater advancement had 
been made in architecture than has yet been found 
among uncivilized tribes, the conception could never 
have been framed of building " a tower whose top 
should reach to heaven," even after due allowance 
is made for the boldness of oriental metaphors. 
Especially will this conclusion appear to be well 
founded, if, as some have supposed, the principal 
design of these artificers was, to form a center of 
union, which might be the basis of an universal 
monarchy; or, as others have imagined, to construct 
a lofty observatory for astronomical purposes. To 
trace the progress of general knowledge among the 
descendants of Abraham, forms no part of our 
present plan ; because the only authentic sources of 
information on this subject are found in a volume 
with which, it is hoped, every reader of this work 



18 ASSYRIA AND CHALDiEA. [PART I. 

will be better acquainted, than with the contents of 
this elementary history; and also because the few 
individuals of that nation, who were celebrated for 
their wisdom or science, stand on the much higher 
ground of prophetical inspiration. It will be suffi- 
cient to remind the juvenile reader, that Moses is 
said, by the illustrious Proto-martyr Stephen, to have 
been " learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians ;" 
that the most scientific as well as most magnificent 
and costly specimens of ancient architecture were 
erected in the days of Solomon, and under the di- 
rection of that monarch, whose wisdom is said, in 
Scripture, to have " excelled the wisdom of all the 
children of the East and all the wisdom of Egypt, so 
that his fame was in all nations round about. And 
he spake three thousand proverbs; and his songs 
were a thousand and iiYe. And he spake of trees, 
from the cedar of Lebanon unto the hyssop that 
springeth out of the wall : he spake also of beasts 
and of fowls and of creeping things and of fishes." 
(1 Kings iv. 30 — 33.) Of Daniel, the Jewish pro- 
phet, who flourished during the captivity, it was 
confessed, even by a Chaldasan prince, that he was 
far superior in knowledge to the most learned of his 
magi, and that " the wisdom of the gods was found 
in him." It is, however, to be remembered, that in 
all the three cases just alluded to, their pre-eminence 
in knowledge is attributed to divine communications 
and special revelations from heaven. 

15. Notwithstanding the pretensions of the 
Egyptians to have led the way in the march of 
civilization and general knowledge; and although 



SECT. I.^ CHALDJEA. 19 

it must be admitted, on the authority both of sacred 
and profane historians, that Egypt was the cradle of 
some useful arts ; there is sufficient ground to dispute 
the claims of that people to priority, more especially 
in astronomical science. The Assyrians, Babylonians, 
and Clialdceans (names which seem to h.ve been 
promiscuously employed by ancient writers, to de- 
signate the same people), really preceded them by 
several centuries at least ; and many circumstances 
might be adduced to prove that the Egyptians rather 
derived the rudiments of knowledge from the Chal- 
dasans, than the Chaldaeans from them. Aristotle 
distinctly asserts, that " the Chaldaaan magi were 
known as a learned sect long before the Egyptian 
priests ;" and it is certain that the Assyrian monarchy, 
which included the provinces of Babylonia and Chal- 
dasa, had become powerful and flourishing, while 
that of Egypt was yet in its infancy. Diodorus 
Siculus, from whose brief and imperfect notices our 
information on subjects of remote antiquity must be 
chiefly derived, has clearly attributed the origin of 
oriental literature to the Chaldasans. The traditions 
of the Jews, and of almost all other Eastern nations, 
as stated by Sir W. Jones, abundantly confirm this 
opinion. 

16. But when we speak of the literature of the 
Chaldasans, the term must be understood as em- 
ployed in a very limited sense. Some crude and 
jejune speculations respecting the eternity of matter ; 
a few incorrect and partial observations on the 
heavenly bodies ; and a mass of superstitious notions 
on judicial astrology, comprehend almost the whole 

c 2 



20 CHALDyEA. [PART I. 

of the boasted attainments of these learned Chal- 
dasans. With respect to the former of these, they 
taught, that matter is eternal, never having had a 
beginning, and never to have an end ; that the system 
of nature does not move spontaneously, nor are its 
motions directed by blind chance, but under the 
continual superintendence either of superior or in- 
ferior deities ; and, finally, that in the beginning, all 
things consisted of darkness and water, but by divine 
power, this humid mass was consolidated into a 
world, and rilled with inhabitants. In this Chaldasan 
cosmogony, it is not difficult to trace a distinct, 
though corrupted, tradition of the Mosaic account of 
the creation. If the testimony of ancient writers 
respecting their knowledge of astronomy can be 
credited, it Was fully equal to what could reasonably 
have been expected at so early a period, and amidst 
their great disadvantages. From these sources of 
information it may be gathered, that they not only 
discovered six planets, viz. the Sun, Mercury, Venus, 
Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, and made rude calcu- 
lations of their several revolutions and orbits ; but, 
according to Petavius, that they determined with 
tolerable exactness the length both of a synodical 
and periodical month ; according to Hipparchus, 
that they calculated lunar eclipses ; according to 
Aristotle, that they made many observations on the 
occultations of fixed stars and planets by the moon's 
shadow, and grouped the heavenly bodies into 
imaginary constellations ; and also that they divided 
the zodiac into twelve signs, through which the 
planets were observed to pass in their revolutions. 



SECT. I.^ CHALDjEA. 21 

Nor do they appear to have been wholly ignorant of 
the existence of comets, though they considered 
them rather as meteors than permanent bodies, 
moving with great velocity through the heavens. 
But that these astronomical discoveries, if such they 
may be termed, were mixed with the grossest errors, 
is evident from the statements of Plutarch and 
Seneca, who affirm, on the authority of Berosus 
himself, that they attributed eclipses of the moon to 
" the turning towards the earth of that part of the 
lunar globe which is destitute of fire ;" and believed 
that " when all the planetary bodies shall meet in 
Cancer, the world will be consumed by fire ; but 
when in Capricorn, it will be destroyed by an inun- 
dation of water." 

17. The most authentic fact relative to this an- 
cient people is, that they were extremely addicted to 
judicial astrology, which was then esteemed the 
noblest of all the sciences. To this all their 
astronomical observations were rendered subservient. 
From the motions and relative positions of the 
planets — the manner of their rising and setting— 
the degree and colour of their light — from the ap- 
pearance of comets and meteoric lights-- from eclipses 
of the sun and moon ;— in a word, from all the ordi- 
nary and extraordinary phenomena which presented 
themselves, the Chaldajan Magi uttered their 
oracular predictions respecting the rise and fall of 
empires, the good or ill success of battles, as well as 
the fortune of private individuals. As a basis for 
these astrological predictions, it was maintained that 
the six planets (which they called Interpreters, 



22 CHALD^A. [PART I. 

because they portended by their aspects the will 
of the gods,) maintained a continual correspondence 
with thirty stars, which they termed Counselling 
Deities, half of whom took cognizance of the things 
of earth, and the other half of what is trans- 
acted in the heavens; that once in ten days one 
of the superior stars descended to the inferior, 
to communicate the will of the gods; and, in 
return, at stated periods, the inferior ascended to 
the superior, to convey intelligence from earth; — 
that the chiefs of these counselling deities were 
twelve principal stars, one of whom reigned for 
a month, and to each of whom was committed one 
of the signs of the zodiac. Such is, in brief, the 
explanation given by Diodorus Siculus of the 
Chaldsean system of astrology, and so truly has 
an inspired Apostle affirmed, when alluding to the 
delusions of heathen philosophy, that * esteeming 
themselves wise, they became fools" 

18. But however defective may have been the 
knowledge of these primitive astronomers, or how- 
ever misapplied their few and partial discoveries, 
it is to be remembered, that to them posterity is 
indebted for its elementary acquaintance with a 
science of all others the most sublime. The period 
to which the present section refers, must be con- 
sidered as the earliest dawn of astronomical science. 
In Chaldsea is found the source of that stream of 
knowledge which modern discoveries have expanded 
into an almost interminable ocean. Disposed as 
we may sometimes feel to treat with contempt the 
oracular prognostications of the Chaldaean astro- 



SECT. 1-3 CHALD^A. 23 

logers, classing them with the fortune-tellers of 
modern times, it should not be forgotten, that even 
the rude and inaccurate calculations by which they 
pretended to foretell the destinies of mankind, pre- 
pared the way for the astonishing developments of 
later ages. To this subject may not unfitly be 
applied the remarks of a distinguished living writer, 
with reference to the gradual development of the 
human character. "The smallest thing," says Foster, 
" becomes respectable, when regarded as the com- 
mencement of what has advanced, or is advancing, 
into magnificence. The first rude settlement of 
Romulus would have been an insignificant circum- 
stance, and might justly have sunk into oblivion, if 
Rome had not at length commanded the world. 
The little rill near the source of one of the great 
American rivers is an interesting object to the 
traveller, who is apprised, as he steps across it, 
or walks a few miles along its bank, that this is 
the stream which runs so far, and gradually 
swells into so immense a flood." — Foster's Essays, 
Vol. I. p. 7. 

19. The departments of Chaldaean literature 
already alluded to, together with other modes of 
divination, were among the occult sciences studied 
alone by the sect of the Magi; on which account 
they were all comprehended under the general title 
Magic. But there is ground to believe that there 
were other practical sciences, of far greater utility, 
in which the ancient Babylonians made considerable 
advances. If the accounts transmitted by ancient 
historians, relative to the magnitude and splendour 



24 CHALDiEA. [PART I. 

of the cities of Nineveh and Babylon, be correct; 
if those ancient cities contained such massive walls, 
such elevated towers, such spacious and magnificent 
temples and palaces, as tradition has reported ; there 
must have existed at that period architects and prac- 
tical mathematicians of no mean reputation. From 
the great variety of musical instruments said to have 
been employed at the dedication of Nebuchad- 
nezzar's colossal image, and, indeed, from the con- 
struction of the image itself, may be inferred their 
skill in mechanism ; and, finally, the celebrity of the 
manufactures of ancient Babylon, the rich em- 
broideries, sumptuous vestments, magnificent carpets, 
and fine linen, said to have been exported thence into 
distant parts of the world, sufficiently prove that 
arts and industry prevailed among its inhabitants. 

20. Of the men of letters, who flourished in 
Babylonia and Chaldaea, little is now known. The 
names of a few individuals of this class have indeed 
been preserved, but their works have long since 
perished. A Chaldaean philosopher, named Zo- 
roaster, is mentioned by ancient writers, who must 
be distinguished from the Zoroaster, or Zerdusht, so 
celebrated in Persian history. He is supposed to 
have been contemporary with Abraham, the founder 
of the Magian sect, and the inventor of magic, or, 
as it has since been designated, judicial astrology. 
The records of antiquity contain a few scattered 
fragments of the works of Berosus, a Chaldaean 
historian, who flourished about the time of Alex- 
ander. He wrote an ancient history of the world, 
ending a. c. 267, which is referred to by Josephus, 



SECT. II.] CHINA. 25 

and also by some of the Christian Fathers, as con- 
firmatory of the truth of the Old Testament history. 
By some it is called the Babylonica, and by others 
the Chaldaica, of Berosus. It consisted of three 
books, including the history of the Babylonians, 
Medes, and Persians. According to Josephus, Berosus 
reckons ten generations between the first man and 
the Universal Deluge, and marks the duration of 
each of these generations by periods of 223 lunar 
revolutions, which, reduced to years, nearly accord 
with the chronology of Moses. The fragments of 
this ancient document, which still exist, are con- 
tained in the writings of Josephus and Syncellus, 
who seem to have collected tliem with much exact- 
ness. A clumsy attempt was made, in compara- 
tively modern times, by an obscure monk, named 
Annius of Viterbo, to produce and impose on the 
world a fictitious history of Chaldaea, under the 
name of Berosus ; but the attempt has only served 
to entail disgrace upon its author. — Vid. Enfield's 
Abridgment of Brucker's History of Philosophy, 
Vol. I. p. 25—37. 



Section II. 

CHINA. 



21. Although it is impossible to determine the 
geographical boundaries of the ancient Assyrian 
empire, it is known to have been, during the period 
of its greatest prosperity, of vast extent, including 



26 CHINA. [[PART I. 

within its limits many large and populous pro- 
vinces. Among these, there is little reason to doubt 
that China, and India, both within and without the 
Ganges, were included. " The different nations," 
says Sir W. Jones, " who have, in different ages, 
divided among themselves, as a kind of inheritance, 
the vast continent of Asia, with the many islands 
depending on it, are the five following : — the Indians, 
the Chinese, the Tartars, the Arabs, and the Per- 
sians : who they severally were— whence and when 
they came — where they now are settled — and what 
advantage a more perfect knowledge of them all 
may bring to our European world, will be investi- 
gated, and the great problem solved, whether they 
had amj common origin." To this latter opinion, 
that learned writer accedes, and adduces many in- 
genious arguments in its defence. This fact (if it 
may be deemed such) will not only account for the 
early civilization of the eastern provinces of Asia, 
and for the similarity of their customs, manners, and 
dialects, but also for the particular direction which 
the human mind seems to have taken in its pursuit 
of knowledge, and the sciences cultivated by them 
from remote antiquity. A striking resemblance 
may be perceived in their mythological fables, their 
metaphysical speculations, and their scientific pur- 
suits, which goes far to prove their common origin, 
whatever may be the opinion of antiquarians re- 
specting their priority. Without presuming to 
determine whether China or India should take the 
precedence in chronological order, our attention, 
in this survey of ancient literature, will be first 



SECT. Il/] CHINA. 27 

directed to China, on account of its confessed anti- 
quity and national importance. 

22. A veil of impenetrable obscurity hangs over 
the primitive history of this vast empire, which the 
utmost diligence of research has not been able to 
remove. Many conjectures have been made respect- 
ing the probable origin of this singular portion of 
the human race, and many plausible theories de- 
vised by men of ingenuity and learning ; but all 
have been unsuccessful in attempting to establish, 
on the basis of authentic history, either the period 
in which the Chinese empire was founded, or the 
source from which its vast population was imme- 
diately derived. The fables of the Chinese them- 
selves, on this subject, are wholly undeserving of 
credit, nor are the tales of the Jesuit missionaries, 
who have long dwelt among them, and flattered 
their national vanity for interested purposes, more 
credible. The theory of Sir W. Jones, already 
alluded to, who considers this people as one great 
branch of the five Asiatic nations, which were pri- 
marily consolidated in one mighty empire, to which 
he gives the name of Iran, (probably the Assyrian?) 
appears on the whole most satisfactory, because it 
serves best to explain the phenomena of their intel- 
lectual and moral resemblances, it accords best with 
scripture history, and it accounts most satisfactorily 
for the monotheism which prevailed there during 
many ages. — Sir W. Jones's Works, Vol. I. p. 21. 

23. Notwithstanding the high pretensions of this 
people to literary eminence in very remote ages, 
there is little reason to suppose, that the arts and 



28 CHINA. £PART I. 

sciences, and still less that any thing which may 
deserve the name of philosophy, had made any con- 
siderable progress among them before the time of 
Kung-foots%e, (or, as latinized by the Catholic 
Missionaries, Confucius,) who flourished about six 
centuries before the Christian i£ra, and to whom we 
are indebted for the earliest authentic information 
respecting the history and antiquities of China. 
According to the traditional history of the Chinese 
themselves, their first princes invented agriculture, 
music, medicine or the healing art, and astronomy. 
It is also asserted, that theology, ethics, and natural 
philosophy, were their favourite studies, and that 
they were the original instructors of mankind in the 
mechanical arts, particularly architecture and navi- 
gation. But all these have been proved by Sir 
W. Jones, and other European writers in modern 
times, to be unfounded pretensions, originating in 
national vanity, and supported by popular ignorance. 
There is rather ground to conclude, that their first 
efforts in science were extremely rude and imperfect, 
and that their literature was truly contemptible. 
The most judicious and best informed of modern 
Chinese scholars concur in the opinion, that no 
authentic records exist of the times to which these 
traditions relate, and that they are to be esteemed 
altogether fabulous. It may however be deserving 
of notice, that among their most ancient traditions, 
is that of a general deluge, said to have taken place 
at a period corresponding with a. c. 2200 ; and 
that they carry back their antediluvian traditions 
to a much earlier period. Thus do we obtain, from 



SECT. II.]3 CHINA. 29 

another independent source, an additional confirma- 
tion of Sacred History. 

24. The. ancient literature of China is stated, by 
Dr. Morrison (to whose various and valuable writings 
on the subject the author is chiefly indebted for the 
contents of this section), to consist of the writings 
or compilations of the moral philosophers of the 
age of Confucius, with numerous notes and com- 
ments and paraphrases on the original text, the pro- 
ductions of subsequent ages, and with controversies 
concerning its genuineness, the order of particular 
words or phrases, and the meaning of obscure pas- 
sages, which still continue to exercise the critical 
acumen of Chinese scholars. The text of the Woo- 
king, or Five Sacred Boohs, written or compiled by 
Confucius himself; and of the S%e-shoo, or Four 
Books, compiled by four of the disciples of Confu- 
cius, (and from which circumstance they receive 
their title,) contain the doctrines and precepts which 
Confucius approved and taught. " In respect of 
external form," says the same learned writer, " the 
Five Books of the Chinese correspond to the Penta- 
teuch of Moses ; and the Four Books, in respect of 
being a record of the sayings of a master, compiled 
by four disciples, have a slight resemblance to the 
Four Gospels. But the contents — how different! 
with the exception of a few passages in the most 
ancient part of the Woo-hing, which retain some- 
thing of the knowledge which Noah must have 
communicated to his children, the rest appears a 
godless system of personal, domestic, and political 
moralities, drawn only from the pride of the human 



30 CHINA. [[PART I. 

heart, the love of fame, or present expediency. 
The sanctions of the Eternal and Almighty God, 
arrayed with every natural and moral perfection — 
the fears and hopes of immortality — the love and 
grace of a Saviour — are wholly wanting in these 
ancient Chinese works, which yet are " deemed by 
millions of the human race most sacred." — Morri- 
son's Chinese Miscellany, p. 34. 

25. As the works to which we have just referred 
constitute the prominent and most important feature 
of ancient Chinese literature, the following outline 
of their principal contents may not be unacceptable 
to the juvenile reader. 

" The first of the Woo-king, or Five Sacred 
Books, consists of ancient love songs — political 
satires, in verse — concealed censures of eminent 
persons — the praises of the virtuous — the regret of 
soldiers on the frontier — occasional delineations of 
nature, and expressions of feelings. Of the odes in 
this ancient book, there are 301 ; and for the perusal 
of them all, Confucius gave one rule in three words, 
denoting purity of mind." 

The second is a sort of chronicle of the delibera- 
tions between two ancient chieftains, or emperors, 
and three kings. It originally consisted of 100 
sections, but 58 only are now extant. It is believed 
to contain all the principles of good government, 
which are comprehended in four words, nearly 
corresponding with the English words, — Virtue — 
Benevolence — Gravity — Sincerity. In this book 
are also found some records of ancient traditions. 

The third is of a more metaphysical character, 



SECT. II.3 CHINA. 31 

and contains the doctrine of changes, or alterations, 
founded on the system of Dual Powers in Nature. 
The philosophy of this book bears a strong resem- 
blance to the unintelligible jargon of the scholastics. 
From its chaos of absurdity, Dr. Morrison has 
endeavoured to gather something like form and 
order, and concludes, that " the theology it teaches 
is a species of atheistical materialism." 

The fourth consists of ancient ceremonials, both 
civil and religious, prescribed rules for regulating 
behaviour, dress, marriages, burials, sacrifices, sacred 
places, prescribed forms of worship, &c. &c. On 
this ancient system of ethics, it is remarked, that it 
places self-respect and respect for others, a serious- 
ness of mind and deportment, and gravity of speech, 
at the foundation of the whole. There are no re- 
ferences to any divine law or sanction, as constituting 
the grounds of moral obligation. 

The fifth of these ancient books is said to have 
been the only one composed by Confucius himself ; 
those already mentioned having been compilations 
from still more ancient documents. It is a sort of 
history of his own times ; or, as modern Chinese 
scholars have termed it, " a bold chronicle of public 
occurrences," or a species of Annual Register, bearing 
the fanciful title of Spring and Autumn. — Chinese 
Miscell. p. 37—42. 

26. Next in antiquity and importance to the 
Woo-hing is the Sze-shoo, or Four Sacred Books, 
which contain the recognized principles of the 
Confucian school ; a work which, though composed 
of the most fanciful and unfounded theories in 



32 CHINA. IMPART I. 

nature, religion, morals, politics, medicine, and 
other subjects of science, is said to exhibit, as a 
whole, a most beautiful and well-arranged system, the 
knowledge of which is indispensable to the attain- 
ment of any station of honour or emolument in the 
Chinese empire. " In these Four Books, knowledge 
is considered as fundamental ; not merely intel- 
lectual knowledge, but chiefly what they call a 
clear discernment of illustrious virtue — an accurate 
perception of nature's light, connected with a 
sincere application of this knowledge to the moral 
improvement of the individual. Next comes its 
application to the benefit of others ; or, as they 
express it, " to the renovation of the people :" and, 
finally, " a constant steady adherence to the princi- 
ples and practice of the virtues previously ascer- 
tained." The gradations of society, as sketched in 
these ancient documents, are — 1. The cultivators 
of the mind, or men of philosophy and science ; 
2. The cultivators of the land, or practical agricul- 
turists ; 3. Operators on the earth's produce, or the 
artizans and mechanics ; and, 4. The transferrer of 
commodities, or the mercantile classes. The first 
of these classes has been for many ages the most 
privileged, retaining in full possession the power 
of administering the " Celestial empire" — Chinese 
Miscell p. 43. 

27. From the preceding sketch of the subjects to 
which the works of Confucius and his disciples 
relate, it will be perceived, that the ancient literature 
of China was rather metaphysical and ethical, 
than connected with the practical sciences or the 



SECT. II.]] CHINA. 33 

phenomena of nature. It abounded with abstract 
speculations, moral aphorisms, and didactic rules 
for individual or social conduct. The summary of 
the ethical system of Confucius, as gathered by Sir 
William Jones from the writings of that philosopher, 
is, that " he who shall be fully persuaded that the 
Lord of heaven governs the universe — who shall 
in all things chuse moderation — who shall per- 
fectly know his own species, and so act among 
them, that his life and manners may conform to 
his knowledge of God and man — may be truly 
said to discharge all the duties of a sage, and to be 
far exalted above the common herd of the human 
race." Such may have been, from remote anti- 
quity, the tenets maintained and inculcated by the 
philosophers of China : but from other sources of 
information it may be gathered, that in that empire, 
as in all other pagan countries, there were gods 
many, and lords many ; and that the superstitions 
of the common people were encouraged, rather than 
counteracted, by the speculative philosophers. The 
multitude have, from time immemorial, believed in 
the agency of subordinate deities, genii, and tutelary 
spirits, presiding over the stars and clouds — over 
lakes and rivers — mountains, valleys, and woods — 
over certain regions and towns — over all the 
elements (and especially fire, the most brilliant of 
them all) : and to these deities they offered victims 
on high places. A distinction must therefore be 
made in China, no less than in India and Greece, 
between the speculative theories of the learned, and 
the gross superstitions of the vulgar. 



34 CHINA. IMPART I. 

28. The only department of physical science, in 
which the Chinese are known to have made any 
considerable progress in remote ages, is Astronomy : 
but by them, as well as by the Chaldaeans, and 
almost every other oriental nation, this noble science 
was degraded by its supposed connexion with 
astrology. Both the Chinese annalists and the 
Jesuit missionaries trace back the history of astro- 
nomy in China to the age immediately succeeding 
the universal deluge. They attribute to Fo-hi, 
their first emperor (whom some suppose to have 
been Noah, and others Ham), the discovery of the 
elementary principles of their science, the invention 
of the signs of the zodiac, the arrangement of the 
constellations, &c. P. Gaubil, who seems to have 
investigated more closely the claims of the Chinese 
astronomers, admits, that at least as early as a. c. 
120, the number and extent of the constellations 
had been determined as they now stand ; — the situ- 
ation of the fixed stars, with reference to the 
solstitial and equinoctial points, and the obliquity of 
the ecliptic ; — that, about the same time, the theory 
by which they foretold eclipses, was discovered and 
acted upon, and that there are still extant in their 
language, treatises on astronomy, which were written 
two hundred years before the Christian iEra. 

29. Before we quit this vast and populous em- 
pire, the literary history of which is daily becoming 
better known and more interesting to Europeans, 
a cursory view may be taken of the principal de- 
partments of its modern literature, as arranged by 
Dr. Morrison in his valuable Chinese Miscellany. 



SECT. II.]] CHINA. 35 

After enumerating the ancient writings of Con- 
fucius and his disciples, it is stated, that " the 1st 
class includes the multitude of modern critics and 
commentators on those writings ; 2. Histories of 
the Chinese Empire, which are numerous, written 
in a grave style, and interspersed with remarks 
on the persons and occurrences which pass in re- 
view ; 3. Historical novels, which now constitute a 
favourite department of Chinese reading ; 4. Dra- 
matic works, generally published under fictitious 
names ; 5. Poetry, which consists chiefly of short 
descriptions, expressing the tender or mournful 
feelings of the heart, and sometimes describes rural 
scenery, but seldom touches on moral subjects ; 
6. The Collectanea of political, philosophical, and 
controversial disquisitions forms a very numerous 
class of modern Chinese writings ; 7. Geographical 
and topographical treatises are abundant ; 8. Medi- 
cal works on the theory and practice of the healing 
art are also said to be numerous, and highly curious ; 
9. Astronomical books, which generally are filled 
with the dreams of astrology, intermingled with 
scientific information; 10. The Prize Essays of 
many generations, which are preserved, and pub- 
lished with care at the expense of the government; 
and, 11. The moral and religious essays of the 
three modern Chinese sects," termed by Dr. Morrison, 
" the Confucian School of Atheistical Materialists, 
the Visionary Alchymic School of Laokeun, and the 
Hindoo Polytheistic School of Buddha." — Morrison's 
Chinese Miscellany, p. 36. 



d 2 



36 INDIA. [[PART I. 



Section III. 

INDIA. 

30. The same obscurity which hangs over the 
primitive history of China, veils also that of the pe- 
ninsula of Hindostan. But from whatever quarter 
the inhabitants of these oriental climes (now ren- 
dered so interesting by their political relation to 
ourselves) may have derived the elements of their 
civilization and knowledge, it is certain that there 
existed among them, from the earliest period of their 
traditional history, men highly reputed for their 
wisdom and erudition ; and that discoveries were 
made by them in moral and physical science, which, 
though they may not bear a comparison with the 
developments of modern times, are yet, when viewed 
in connexion with the existing state of society, 
truly astonishing. So high was the literary repu- 
tation of this people, long before the arts and philo- 
sophy flourished in Greece, that, all who made any 
pretensions to learning in that country deemed it 
necessary to visit India, that they might make them- 
selves acquainted with the philosophical systems, and 
scientific discoveries, for which the eastern sages 
were renowned. An ancient Greek historian af- 
firms, that " the Indians were the wisest of nations, 
especially in moral science ; and notwithstanding 
the national vanity of the Greeks, which led them 
to pour contempt on all other nations as barbarous, 
the confession is frequently extorted from them, that 



SECT. III. ^ INDIA. 37 

the most celebrated of their philosophers were 
greatly indebted to their travels among oriental 
nations for their high attainments in knowledge. 
" The six philosophical schools," says Sir W. Jones, 
" whose principles are explained in the Dersana 
Sastra, comprise all the metaphysics of the Old 
Academy, the Stoa, the Lyceum ; nor is it possible 
to read the Vedanta, (another of the ancient Indian 
Sastras,) or the many fine compositions in illustra- 
tion of it, without believing that Pythagoras and 
Plato derived their sublime theories from the same 
fountain with the sages of India." 

31. Of the philosophy of India it would be im- 
possible to give even a faint outline in this summary 
of ancient literature ; nor is it easy to form a decided 
opinion of its general character, amidst the jarring 
opinions entertained on the subject by writers pos- 
sessed of ample means of information. By some it 
has been described as a compound of fanatical meta- 
physics, and extravagant superstitions, without the 
smallest seasoning of rational physics ; while others 
have represented it as a refined allegorical system 
of metaphysical theology, characterized by inge- 
nuity and pre-eminent genius. Without acceding 
fully to either of these contrary opinions, it may be 
safely affirmed, that the mystical philosophy of India 
approaches much nearer to reason and truth than 
the bold and impious speculations of the modern 
European philosophers. The latter have strenu- 
ously laboured to exclude mind from the universe ; 
but the ancient Hindoo philosophers, proceeding to 
the opposite extreme of pantheism, allow no powers 



38 INDIA. [PART I. 

whatever to material substances, but introduce the 
Deity as the immediate cause of every effect, how- 
ever trivial ; as the agent and author alike of good 
and evil. " From all the properties of man and 
nature — from all the various branches of science — 
from all the deductions of human reason, the corol- 
lary drawn by all the philosophers of the East is, 
the supremacy and direct agency of an all-creating, 
all-preserving spirit, infinitely wise and powerful, 
but infinitely removed, also, from the comprehension 
of his most exalted creatures. In common with all 
other eastern nations, they considered the human 
soul as a particle or an emanation of that intellec- 
tual fire by which the universe is animated. To 
the same source may also be referred their belief in 
transmigration, re-absorption in the Divinity, and 
the periodical renovation of the material universe."* 
32. No early traces of moral science, considered 



* The statement of Sir W. Jones, respecting the branch of 
Hindoo philosophy referred to in the text, exhibits it in a more 
favourable light. " The fundamental tenet of the Vedanti School 
consisted, not in denying the existence of matter, that is, of 
solidity, impenetrability, and extended figure, (to deny which 
would be lunacy,) but in correcting the popular notion of it, and 
in contending that it has no essence independently of mental per- 
ception — that existence and perceptibility are convertible terms — 
that external appearances and sensations are illusory, and would 
vanish into nothing, if the divine energy, which alone sustains 
them, were suspended but for a moment ; an opinion which 
Epicharmus and Plato seem to have adopted, and which has 
been maintained in the present day (alluding to the well-known 
Berkleyan system,) with great elegance, but with little public 
applause." — Sir W. Jones's Works, Vol. I. Prelim. Diss. 



SECT. Ill/] INDIA. 39 

as a system, can be found among the ancient writ- 
ings of the Hindoo philosophers ; but their Sastras, 
or sacred books, abound with ethical maxims and 
preceptive rules of conduct. 

The moralists of the East have in general chosen 
to deliver their precepts in short sententious apho- 
risms, to illustrate them by allegorical comparisons, 
or to inculcate them in the ancient form of apo- 
logues or fables. The Niti Sastra, or System of 
Ethics, still held in high veneration by the inhabi- 
tants of India, contains, amidst many absurdities, a 
great mass of moral instruction ; and the fables of 
Vishnu-serman (better known by the name of 
Pilpay) are said to be the most beautiful, if not the 
most ancient, collection of apologues in the world. 
These fables were originally written in the San- 
scrit dialect, under a title which signifies (( amicable 
instruction ;" from which they were first translated 
into the popular language of India, in the sixth 
century. They are now extant in more than twenty 
of the oriental dialects, and greatly admired for the 
moral wisdom they contain. It is conjectured by 
Sir W. Jones, that, " as the very existence of Esop is 
doubtful, the first moral fables known to the Euro- 
peans, were of Indian or Ethiopic origin." — Sir W. 
Jones's Works, Vol. I. p. 32. 

33. Physical science seems to have been chiefly 
applied by the ancient Hindoos, either to the con- 
veniences of social life, or to the more disgraceful 
purpose of magical and astrological imposture. If 
full reliance could be placed on their own tradi- 
tional history, or the testimony of some distinguished 



40 INDIA. [PART I. 

modern writers, it would appear that the most 
remarkable discoveries were made by them, even 
in the infancy of society, in the kindred sciences 
of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and astronomy. 
That they were early famed for their skill in navi- 
gation and their astronomical knowledge, is evident 
from the writings of the ancient geographer, Dio- 
nysius, who describes them as a people, 

" who first assay'd the deep, 



And wafted merchandize to coasts unknown ; 

Those who digested first the starry choir, 

Their motions mark'd, and call'd them by their names." 

Yet more decisive evidence is adduced of their 
attainments in astronomy by a scientific modern 
writer (Bailly), who examined attentively the astro- 
nomical tables of the Indian philosophers of anti- 
quity, and asserts, that they are far superior in 
accuracy to the best calculations of the Grecian 
astronomers. The fundamental epoch of the Indian 
astronomy is a conjunction of the sun and moon, 
which, according to their chronology, is said to have 
taken place at a period nearly corresponding with the 
year 3102 before the Christian iEra; and the most 
accurate calculations of modern astronomers have 
shewn, that such a conjunction must have actually 
taken place at that time. Still more remarkable is the 
statement of Sir W. Jones, who refers to the works 
of an ancient philosopher of India, which are said 
to include a system of the universe, founded on 
the principle of attraction, and the central position 
of the sun; whence he infers, that this Indian philo- 



SECT. III.]] INDIA. 41 

sopher (probably a contemporary of Pythagoras) 
communicated to the philosopher of Samos that 
knowledge of the true solar system, which he is 
said to have possessed.* 

34. On the general literature of the ancient 
Hindoos, the following brief notices may suffice. 
Numerous treatises are found among their ancient 
writings on grammar, rhetoric, logic, music, medi- 
cine, geography, and history, which, though little 

* In proof of this statement (viz. that the philosophers of 
India were not ignorant of the great law of attraction), Sir W. 
Jones has adduced, from an ancient allegorical poem, the fol- 
lowing curious passage : — " There is a strong propensity which 
dances through every atom, and attracts the minutest particle 
to some peculiar object; search this universe from its base to 
its summit, from fire to air, from water to earth, from all below 
the moon to all above the celestial spheres, and thou wilt not 
find a corpuscle destitute of that natural attractability ; the very 
point of the first thread in this apparently tangled skein is no 
other than such a principle of attraction, and all principles 
beside are void of a real basis ; from such a propensity arises 
every motion perceived in heavenly or in terrestrial bodies; it 
is a disposition to be attracted, which taught hard steel to rush 
from its place, and rivet itself on the magnet; it is the same 
disposition which impels the light straw to attach itself firmly 
on amber; it is this quality which gives every substance in nature 
a tendency toward another, and an inclination forcibly directed 
to a determinate point." " These notions," remarks the learned 
author of the Dissertation on the Philosophy of the Hindoos, 
from which the above passage is quoted; " these notions are 
vague indeed and unsatisfactory ; but permit me to ask whether 
the last paragraph of Newton's incomparable work goes much 
farther, and whether any subsequent experiments have thrown 
light on a subject so abstruse and obscure." — Sir W.Jones's 
Works, Vol.1, p. 171. 



42 INDIA. [PART I. 

known to European scholars, are affirmed, by no 
incompetent witness, to " evince a fertile and inven- 
tive genius; their lighter poems, some of which are 
of high antiquity, are lively and elegant ; their epic, 
magnificent and sublime in the highest degree. 
The ancient books, called Puranas, comprise a 
series of mythological histories, in blank verse, from 
the creation to the supposed incarnation of Buddha ; 
and their Vedas abound with noble speculations in 
metaphysics, and fine discourses on the being and 
attributes of God." To this perhaps too flattering 
statement of the contents of these ancient writings, 
it is requisite to add (on the authority of the late 
excellent missionary, Ward, author of a valuable 
work on the Customs, Manners, and Superstitions 
of the Hindoos), that these sublime speculations and 
moral maxims are blended with and degraded by 
the most absurd fictions and the grossest obscenity. 
It is painful to be under the necessity of closing 
this brief sketch of the ancient learning of India, 
with the assertion, that these boasted attainments 
in philosophy have hitherto presented the most 
formidable barrier to the introduction of Chris- 
tianity among its inhabitants, and that, while the 
unlettered and more barbarous tribes of Africa, or the 
islanders of the Pacific, have renounced the super- 
stitions of their forefathers, the haughty Brahmins 
of India (with but few exceptions), clad in the 
proof armour of metaphysical theology and worldly 
wisdom, have remained impervious to the light of 
christian revelation, and continued proudly to reject 
the " wisdom that comes from above." Happy were 



SECT. 1V.3 PERSIA. 43 

it for them, and for the world, if the advice with 
which one of their own Shastras concludes were 
but practically obeyed : — " That Spirit, from which 
all created beings proceed; through which, having 
proceeded from it, they live; toward which they 
tend ; and in which they are ultimately absorbed ; — 
that Spirit study to know: that Spirit is the Great 
One."— Sir W. Jones's Works, Vol. I. pp. 173, 174. 



Section IV. 

PERSIA. 



35. If Persia were, as Sir W. Jones has asserted, 
" the true center of population, of knowledge, of 
languages, and of arts," in a very remote period of 
antiquity ; and if from that empire civilization and 
learning travelled in every direction throughout the 
vast continent of Asia, a more than ordinary degree 
of importance must attach to its primaeval history. 
Even the most indistinct records of its ancient 
literature must possess an unwonted interest, not 
only on their own account, but still more because 
of the relation they bear to the progress of know- 
lege in subsequent and far distant ages. It is much 
to be lamented, (though it is not difficult to account 
for the fact.) that the early history of so distin- 
guished an empire should be so little known, and 
that the traditions respecting it should be so various 
and contradictory. A few of the most credible 



44 PERSIA. [PART 1. 

statements and opinions on this interesting subject 
will be embodied in the present section, gathered 
from the most authentic sources of information to 
which its writer could obtain access. It is to be 
premised, that Religion and Philosophy are so 
blended together in the history of ancient Persia, 
that, though the former falls not distinctly within 
the object of the present work, it will be impossible 
to separate the one from the other. The few dis- 
tinguished names which occur in the annals of its 
ancient literature, were chiefly celebrated as religious 
reformers, who, by their instructions and their writ- 
ings, propagated those tenets on moral subjects, and 
instituted those religious rites, which continued to 
prevail during many ages. 

36. It is generally admitted, that long before the 
time of the celebrated Zerdusht, or Zoroaster, the 
Magian sect existed in Persia, and included men of 
reputed learning, held in high veneration by the 
common people ; but it is probable that, in Persia 
as in Chaldsea, their only erudition consisted in such 
rude calculations respecting the phenomena of the 
heavenly bodies as enabled them more successfully 
to practise the arts of delusion, by pretending to 
augur, from the aspect of the heavens, the destinies 
of mankind. Some faint traces may indeed be per- 
ceived of an earlier and purer state of society, 
bearing a close resemblance to the patriarchal. The 
primaeval religion of Persia is said, on the authority 
of some oriental writers, to have been " the oldest 
and noblest of all religions. It consisted in a firm 
belief that one supreme God made all things by his 



SECT. IV.] PERSIA. 45 

power, and continually governs them by his provi- 
dence — in a pious fear, love and adoration of Him — 
a due reverence for parents and aged persons — 
a fraternal affection for the whole human species, 
and a compassionate tenderness even for the brute 
creation." This purer form of moral and religious 
belief was, however, gradually corrupted and debased, 
and there was grafted upon it the Sabian supersti- 
tion, which was probably imported from India, and 
consisted in the adoration of the host of heaven, or 
the worship of the celestial bodies : hence arose 
numerous temples in Persia, dedicated to the sun 
and planets, and containing symbolical representa- 
tions of those objects of their idolatrous homage; 
some memorials of which are still preserved among 
the specimens of Persian sculpture. This popular 
religion seems to have originated with Mahabad, 
who is said to have been the first monarch of Persia, 
and of whom tradition relates, that "he received 
from the Creator, and promulgated among men, a 
sacred book in a heavenly language, which consisted 
of regulations and divine ordinances for the conduct 
of mankind." In these traditions, a clear indication 
is given, that some knowledge was preserved and 
widely diffused of the primitive revelation; and 
hence some have been led to imagine, that Abraham 
or Moses was the real person intended by the 
Persian Mahabad, A partial reformat icn of the 
popular faith was subsequently effected, about the 
ninth century before the Christian j£ra, by Hushang, 
which, while it rejected the grosser forms of poly- 
theism that had been gradually introduced, and 



46 PERSIA. [^PART I. 

revived the laws and institutions of Mahabad, encou- 
raged a superstitious veneration for the celestial 
bodies. 

37. It is not, however, till we arrive at the aera 
of Zerdusht, that we find ourselves on the firm 
ground of authentic history. This celebrated 
Persian philosopher is to be distinguished both from 
the Chaldaean philosopher of the same name (to 
whom we have already referred), who flourished at 
a much earlier period, and from several others men- 
tioned by ancient writers who lived after him. 
Stanley, in his Lives of the Philosophers, affirms, 
" that ancient history mentions several Zoroasters ; 
the first, a Chaldaean ; the second, a Bactrian ; the 
third, a Persian ; the fourth, a Pamphylian ; and 
the fifth, a Proconnesian : all of whom were said to 
be the principal founders of the literature of their 
respective countries." If this statement be correct, 
it would seem probable, either that all these tradi- 
tions had one common origin, and referred to the 
same individual ; or that the name was anciently 
employed, as a kind of literary title, to designate 
those persons who rendered themselves famous by 
their wisdom and learning. Whether this opinion 
be well founded or not, there can be no doubt of the 
existence and celebrity of the Persian Zoroaster, or, 
as he is called by the orientals, Zerdusht ; and that 
he flourished during the reign and under the patron- 
age of Darius Hystaspes. This ancient sage is 
said to have exerted his influence and learning for 
the purpose of counteracting the popular supersti- 
tions of his country, and to have produced a great 



SECT. IV. 3 PERSIA. 47 

reformation, amounting almost to a revolution, both 
in philosophy and religion. To the character of a 
literary reformer, his pretensions seem to have been 
well founded ; but it may be doubted, if what has 
already been affirmed respecting the primitive reli- 
gion of Persia be correct, whether he can claim, on 
just grounds, the higher honour of a religious re- 
former. 

38. For a summary of the philosophical and reli- 
gious tenets and maxims of Zoroaster, it is requisite 
to refer to his writings, some of which are still ex- 
tant, but the far greater part have perished. The 
sacred book, called the Zend, still held in high vene- 
ration by the Persians, has been generally attributed 
to him, though some critics consider it the produc- 
tion of a much later period. This book consists of 
two parts, one of which contains the forms of devotion 
and ceremonies to be observed in religious worship ; 
the other, precepts of religion and morality. A por- 
tion of this ancient book is read to the people on every 
sacred day by the priests ; and from its pages are 
derived many of the metaphysical speculations which 
still exercise the ingenuity of the learned. Many 
works in astrology, physics, and theology > are also 
said to have been written by Zoroaster, and are occa- 
sionally referred to by modern oriental scholars, no 
traces of which remain. One curious document, how- 
ever, still exists, consisting of fragments of his supposed 
writings, under the title of the Oracles of Zoroaster. 
They are in verse, and, notwithstanding all the 
labours of the Platonic Philosophers, several of whom 
wrote large commentaries upon them, extremely 



48 PERSIA. £PART I. 

obscure. If these are genuine productions of the 
Persian philosopher, they distinctly point out the 
true origin of the philosophy of Plato. 

39. The outline of the Persian philosophy, or 
rather of that system of metaphysical theology, 
which has been professed immemorially by the Sufis, 
or Persian literati, is thus sketched by the masterly 
hand of Sir W. Jones, than whom scarcely an indi- 
vidual can be found in modern times more intimately 
acquainted with the literature of Persia. i( Their 
fundamental tenets are, that nothing exists abso- 
lutely but God : that the human soul is an emana- 
tion from his essence ; and though divided for a time 
from its heavenly source, will be finally re-united 
with it; that the highest possible happiness will 
arise from its re-union, and that the chief good of 
mankind in this transitory world consists in as per- 
fect an union with the eternal Spirit, as the incum- 
brances of a mortal frame will allow, — that for this 
purpose they should break all connexion with ex- 
trinsic objects, and pass through life without attach- 
ments, as a swimmer in the ocean strikes freely 
without the impediment of clothes ; that they 
should be straight and free as the cypress, whose 
fruit is hardly perceptible, and not sink under a load 
like fruit-trees attached to a trellis — that if mere 
earthly charms have power to influence the soul, the 
idea of celestial beauty must overwhelm it in extatic 
delight, — that for want of apt words in which to 
express the divine perfections, and the ardour of 
devotion, we must borrow such expressions as ap- 
proach the nearest to our ideas, and speak of Beauty 



SECT. IV.3 PERSIA. 49 

and Love in a transcendent and mystical sense ; that, 
like a reed torn from its native bank, — like wax 
separated from its delicious honey, — the soul of man 
bewails its disunion with melancholy music, and 
sheds burning tears, like the lighted taper, waiting 
passionately for the moment of its extinction, as a 
disengagement from earthly trammels, and the means 
of returning to its Only Beloved." " Such," adds 
this elegant writer, " is the wild and enthusiastic 
religion of the Persian poets, especially of the sweet 
Hafiz, and the great Maulavi ; such is the system of 
the Vedanti philosophers, and best lyric poets of 
India ; and, as it was a system of the highest anti- 
quity in both nations, it may be added to the many 
other proofs of an immemorial affinity between 
them."— Sir W. Jones's Works, Vol. I. pp. 90, 91. 

40. Truth, however, demands that it should be 
distinctly stated, that the preceding sketch of the 
Persian philosophy exhibits not its grosser features. 
With these refined speculations on the nature of the 
human soul, and its re-absorption in the Divinity, 
were blended, by the great Persian reformer him- 
self, many mythological fables relative to the two 
opposite principles of good and evil, (the former of 
which was personified under the name of Oromasdes, 
and the latter under that of Arimanius) ; respecting 
the genii, or angels, supposed to preside over 
months and days; respecting the adoration of the 
Sun, as the brightest emblem of Mithra or the 
Supreme Deity, and of Fire, as the offspring of the 
sun and an emanation from his magnificent orb. 
Whether Zoroaster taught, and his disciples practised, 



50 PERSIA. [PART I. 

the worship of the Sun, and of the element of Fire, 
has been much questioned in modern times, though 
it seems to have been generally believed by the 
ancients. It is stoutly denied by the Persian Sufis 
of the present day, who appeal to supposed writings 
of great antiquity in proof of their assertions. In 
one of these, the following explanation is given of 
the act of Cyrus, in prostrating himself before the 
blazing altar : — " Think not, that they were adorers 
of fire, for that element was only an exalted object 
on the lustre of which they fixed their eyes ; they 
humbled themselves a whole week before God ; and 
if thy understanding be ever so little exerted, thou 
must acknowledge thy dependance on the Being su- 
premely pure."* — Sir W, Jones's Works, Vol. I. 90. 
41. The veneration in which the sun and other 
celestial bodies were held by the ancient Persians 

* In further confirmation of this opinion, Dr. Hyde relates, 
that when a Persian priest was interrogated by an intimate friend 
of his, then resident in India, " At what seasons and with what 
ceremonies they adored the sun t" he replied, that " neither they 
nor their fathers had ever worshipped the sun, or paid any 
divine honours whatever to that luminary, to the moon, or to 
the planets ; but only turned themselves toward the sun when 
praying, because they considered it as coming nearest to the 
nature of fire, and the brightest image of the Divinity." From 
these facts — if such they may be called — it must be evident, that 
Theism, or the worship of the one living and true God, has been 
preserved, (not indeed unmingled with corrupt and superstitious 
rites, but yet in some degree of purity,) from the earliest records 
of the Persian empire to the present time. Additional evidence 
on this interesting subject, may also be obtained from the " Life 
and Remains of the late excellent and lamented Missionary, 
Henry Martyn." 



SECT. IV.3 PERSIA. 51 

(whether it amounted to religious worship or not), 
naturally led them to the study of astronomy. They 
were prompted by their religion, no less than by 
curiosity and the desire of knowledge, to make as 
minute observations as their limited means would 
permit, on the orbits, motions, and other visible 
phenomena of the heavenly luminaries. Instructed 
probably by the Chaldean Magi, they established 
" a number of artificial cycles with distinct names, 
which seem to indicate a knowledge of the period 
in which the equinoxes appear to revolve ;" and 
from the same source, it is probable that those 
elements of physical science were derived, which 
obtained for them the reputation of magicians and 
enchanters. But whatever may have been the 
learning possessed by the Persian Magi, it was 
carefully concealed from public view, and confined 
to their own privileged order. None except the 
members of the royal family were among the 
initiated. 

42. Few monuments of antiquity remain to 
indicate the progress of the arts in ancient Persia ; 
but of those few, some are exquisitely beautiful. 
Among the venerable ruins of Persepolis, and other 
sculptured remains discovered by modern travellers, 
are found architectural specimens, which, while 
proved by their state of decay to have been executed 
in very remote ages, prove also, by their scientific 
proportions and tasteful decorations, that the fine 
arts had made no inconsiderable progress in Persia. 
Mohsan, a learned Persian writer, frequently cited 
by Sir W. Jones as a most credible witness, affirms 

e2 



52 PERSIA. £PART I. 

that there still exist in Persia, and its adjacent 
countries, numerous fragments of ancient poetry 
written in the Pahlavi, or old Persic dialect, some 
of which are believed to have been the production 
of Zerdusht himself, or of his immediate disciples. 
A considerable collection of Persian MSS., con- 
fessedly of great antiquity, have been imported into 
Europe by eastern travellers, the most valuable of 
which are deposited in the Royal Library at Paris. 
These books, written partly in the Zendic or sacred 
dialect, and partly in the vulgar Persian language, 
contain narratives of the miracles and revelations by 
which Zerdusht is said to have established his reli- 
gious system — the theological doctrines and religious 
ceremonies taught by him and his followers — and 
metaphysical speculations on the nature of the 
human soul, the principles of good and evil, and the 
ultimate triumph of the former over the latter. 
These, as well as almost every other remaining 
fragment of ancient oriental literature, are chiefly 
poetical, and some are said to be exquisitely beautiful 
in their style of composition. They also contain 
some excellent precepts of morality, and traditional 
records of former ages. From the general agree- 
ment of these traditional records and moral maxims 
with the facts and precepts of the Old Testament 
Scriptures, some have inferred that these Persian 
MSS. are of much later origin than the period 
usually assigned to them ; whilst others have ga- 
thered from these ancient documents collateral and 
independent proofs of the authenticity and antiquity 
of the Jewish Scriptures. It may be added, in con- 



SECT. V.]] ARABIA. 53 

eluding this brief sketch of the literature of ancient 
Persia, that proofs are not wanting of the successful 
cultivation of the kindred arts of music, painting, 
and sculpture by Persian artists, some of whose 
names have been preserved, though their works 
have long since perished beyond all hope of re- 
covery.— Vid. Ancient Univ. Hist. (Persia.) 



Section V. 



ARABIA. 



43. The records of antiquity furnish so little 
authentic information respecting the primitive his- 
tory of Arabia, that it might not improperly be 
passed over without even a cursory notice in this 
review of ancient literature. There are, however, 
some circumstances that render an inquiry into the 
origin and progress of knowledge among the 
scattered Arab tribes peculiarly interesting, and 
which naturally prompt the wish, that the few 
fragments of history which yet remain on this 
subject should be preserved. One of the circum- 
stances alluded to, is, their supposed descent from 
Abraham, the venerable Hebrew patriarch, by the 
line of Ishmael ; from whom they may be supposed 
to have derived the knowledge, if not of the elements 
of philosophy and science, yet of subjects infinitely 



54 ARABIA. [JPART I. 

more important — the one living and true God, and 
the homage and obedience due to him from all his 
intelligent creation. This knowledge, which could 
not but have been possessed by all the posterity of 
Abraham, was, alas ! too quickly corrupted by his 
degenerate offspring who settled in Arabia; and 
who very soon fell into the common and fatal 
superstition of adoring the sun and moon and stars, 
erected temples and altars in honour of these 
luminaries, and invented symbolical representations 
of these gods of their idolatry. But though the 
worship of the celestial bodies characterized the 
religion of the vulgar, there is ground to believe 
that " the religion of the poets was pure Theism ; 
since there are Arabian verses of unsuspected an- 
tiquity, which contain pious and elevated sentiments 
on the goodness and justice, the power and omni- 
presence of Allah, or The God. If an inscription 
said to have been found on marble in Yemen (the 
ancient name of Arabia) be authentic, the primitive 
inhabitants of that country long preserved the re- 
ligion of their patriarchal ancestor, and professed 
a belief in miracles and in a future state/' — Sir W. 
Jones's Works, Vol. I. 

44. The interest excited by the circumstances 
just stated, is heightened by the fact of the pre- 
servation, in the Old Testament Scriptures, of an 
exquisitely beautiful historical poem of high an- 
tiquity — the scene of which is laid in Arabia— the 
principal personages introduced as taking part in 
the dialogue, are believed to have been Arabians, — 
and its author (if written by him, a part of whose 



SECT. V.3 ARABIA. 55 

history it records,) was probably a Hebrew long 
resident in that country, who nourished during the 
patriarchal age. None can read with attention the 
book of Job, especially in its original dialect, and 
believe it to be a fragment of patriarchal history, 
written under the sanction of divine inspiration — 
whether by Job himself, or by the author of the 
Pentateuch — without being solicitous to know all 
that can be known of the country to which it relates, 
and the people whose manners it pourtrays — of the 
attainments then made in various sciences, and above 
all, the knowledge possessed by them of the " one 
living and true God." Another circumstance, which 
gives an unwonted interest to the question relative 
to the dawn of literature in Arabia, is, that in sub- 
sequent ages, Europe was greatly indebted to Arabic 
scholars for the preservation of some valuable relics 
of antiquity, and a partial revival of letters, when 
they had fallen into a lamentable state of decay. 
It will appear, from facts to be hereafter stated, that 
from Arabia emanated those rays of science which 
shed a transient gleam over the darkness of the 
middle ages. In the absence of well-attested his- 
torical facts, we can only have recourse to inferential 
reasonings, which warrant the conclusion that the 
attainments of these scattered pastoral tribes in 
civilization and general knowledge were by no 
means inconsiderable. 

45. The following are the principal grounds on 
which this conclusion rests : — 1. Their contiguity 
to the Egyptians, and known intercourse with them, 
in very remote ages. Since it is well known that 



56 ARABIA. [PART I. 

in Egypt the arts and sciences were early culti- 
vated, and made greater progress than in perhaps 
any other province of the East, it is reasonable to 
suppose, that a people bordering on that country, 
and intimately associated with them, partook in 
some degree of their illumination. 2. The intro- 
duction and prevalence of the Sabian religion fur- 
nishes another indirect proof; for though that 
system of religion was partly idolatrous, it was also 
speculative and metaphysical ; and, wherever it 
spread, seems to have carried with it a taste for 
philosophical speculations. 3. A yet more conclu- 
sive argument in proof of the early civilization of 
the Arabians, is drawn from the antiquity, inde- 
pendence, and exquisite beauty of their language. 
Its antiquity is proved by inscriptions found on 
rocks, mountains, and decayed edifices in different 
parts of Arabia, the characters of which have become 
almost illegible by the lapse of ages, but which, as 
far as they can be decyphered, are found to contain 
ancient Arabic verses. Its independence may be 
inferred from the fact, stated by Sir W. Jones, 
that it bears not the least resemblance, either in 
words or in the structure of them, to the Sanscrit, 
which is the common parent of all the Indian dia- 
lects. And its singular beauty is asserted by the 
same learned author, who affirms, that '" the Arabic, 
which is unquestionably one of the most ancient 
languages in the world, yields to none ever spoken 
by mortals in the number of its words and the pre- 
cision of its phrases. 4. An additional evidence 
is found in the specimens of ancient poetry still 



SECT. V.^ ARABIA. 57 

extant in that language. The learned Schultens 
has preserved, in his " Ancient Memorials of Arabia," 
two elegiac poems, said to have been found about 
the middle of the seventh century, on some frag- 
ments of ruined edifices in Hadramut, near Aden, 
which are supposed to be of an indefinite but very 
remote age, and which, if genuine, are so regular 
in their construction, and so beautiful, as sufficiently 
to indicate the cultivated taste of their author. To 
the above may be added, 5. The architectural re- 
mains of Arabia, which, for whatever purpose the 
edifices may have been erected, could not have been 
built by a rude and barbarous people. From all 
these circumstances, it is concluded, that if " courtesy 
and urbanity — a love of poetry and eloquence— and 
the practice of exalted virtues, be a juster measure 
of perfect society, we have certain proof that the 
people of Arabia, both on plains and in cities, — in 
republican and monarchical states, — were eminently 
civilized for many ages before their conquest of 
Persia."*— &V W. Jones's Works, Vol. I. p. 35—50. 
46. On the same grounds, and by the same in- 
ferential reasonings, which render probable the early 



* Dr. J. Mason Good has stated, in the Preliminary Disser- 
tation to his elegant version of the Book of Job (though on 
what ground the opinion rests, except that of the contents of the 
book itself, he has neglected to inform his readers), that " Arabia 
was perhaps earliest in possession of the most important arts 
and sciences, and especially those which relate to manufactures 
and commerce. It first cultivated poetry and eloquence with 
critical attention, and taught these refinements to Persia, as 
Persia afterwards taught them to the other parts of Asia." 



58 ARABIA. [[PART I. 

civilization of the Arabians, their progress in moral 
and intellectual science may be conjectured. There 
is, however, in addition to these, an Arabian work 
of reputed antiquity, which (if really the produc- 
tion of remote ages) will prove, beyond doubt, that 
ethics were at least practically understood by them. 
The work now alluded to is, the "Apologues of 
Lokmann" which has been long known to European 
scholars, through the imperfect medium of a Latin 
version, and which unquestionably contains much 
excellent moral instruction. From the resemblance 
which some of these fables bear to those of Esop, 
it has been concluded by some, that the Arabic 
Lokmann and the Grecian Esop were the same per- 
son ; while others have contended, that the Arabian 
apologues were compiled in later ages from the 
Greek : but when it is remembered, that the most 
ancient mode of communicating moral instruction 
in the East was by parables or fables, and that the 
first principles of Grecian literature were of eastern 
origin, is it not more probable that those of Esop 
were borrowed from the Arabians ? The celebrity 
of Lokmann, as a teacher of morality, may be in- 
ferred from the allusion to him in the Koran, where 
the Arabian Impostor introduces the Most High as 
saying, " We heretofore bestowed wisdom on Lok- 
mann." He is supposed to have been contemporary 
with David ; and if his origin were fabulous, it is 
not improbable that Solomon may have been the 
person intended. 



SECT. VI. ^ EGYPT. 59 



Section VI. 

EGYPT. 

47. Of all the nations of antiquity, there is none 
whose pretensions to early civilization and improve- 
ment are higher than the Egyptians. They arro- 
gated to themselves the honour of having been the 
preceptors of mankind. From them, as from the 
grand focus of science and learning, all those rays 
of knowledge were supposed to have diverged by 
which the rest of the world was illumined. Though 
truth will not permit us to concede all that is 
claimed by this people, it cannot be doubted, that 
in very remote ages, and when the far greater part 
of the human race was yet in a state of unlettered 
ignorance, the Egyptians had made great progress 
in the useful arts of life, and were not ignorant of 
the elements of science ; nor can it be denied, that 
both Greece and Rome were greatly indebted to 
Egypt for instruction in various branches of know- 
ledge. The Sacred Volume bears distinct testimony 
to their high reputation for learning, even as far 
back as the time of Moses ; for that Hebrew legis- 
lator is said to have been " learned in all the wisdom 
of the Egyptians." From what source their know- 
ledge was derived, and by what means this honour- 
able distinction was attained, may be conjectured, 
but cannot now be ascertained with any degree of 
certainty. 



60 EGYPT. £PART I. 

48. Several circumstances have concurred to 
spread an unwonted degree of obscurity over the 
literary history of the ancient Egyptians, amongst 
which the following may be enumerated : — 

1. The very remote period at which the dawn of 
philosophy commenced among them, stretching 
backward to an age anterior to the art of writing, 
when the most important knowledge could only 
be communicated by oral tradition, or rude symbo- 
lical inscriptions. 

2. The cautious reserve with which their know- 
ledge was concealed from the vulgar, by means of 
hieroglyphical characters, intelligible only to the 
priests, and the hidden meaning of which was event- 
ually lost even by them. 

3. The probable misrepresentations of the an- 
cient Greek historians, who were prompted by 
national vanity to attribute to their own philoso- 
phers, speculations and inventions which were pro- 
bably of Egyptian origin. 

4. But most of all is this obscurity to be attri- 
buted to the utter destruction of the ancient records 
of Egyptian literature by the conflagration of the 
Alexandrian Library, which contained, it is more 
than probable, the works of Manetho, Cher emon, and 
other Egyptian writers, known to posterity only by 
name, or by a few scattered fragments of their writ- 
ings. The loss of these ancient documents cannot 
be too deeply regretted, since they were the only 
sources from which authentic information could be 
obtained of the degree of science possessed by the 
earliest of the Egyptian Magi. 



SECT. VI.]] EGYPT. 61 

49. The ancients generally agree in tracing back 
the literature of the Egyptians, to the time in which 
an individual flourished, who bears a great variety 
of names. By the Egyptians themselves, he was 
called Thoth, and worshipped as a subordinate deity ; 
by the Phoenicians, Taant ; by the Greeks, Hermes ; 
and by the Romans, Mercurius. But who this far- 
famed personage was, or at what precise period he 
flourished, it were now vain to conjecture. Diodorus 
Siculus speaks of him, as " the prime minister of 
Osiris, one of their ancient kings, who improved 
language, invented letters, instituted religious rites, 
and taught astronomy, music, and other arts." This 
testimony is said to have been confirmed by the 
writings of Sanchoniatho, the Phoenician historian, 
and of Manetho, an Egyptian priest, who flourished 
in the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus. The latter of 
the abovementioned authors mentions another Thoth, 
or Hermes, called also Trismegistus, who flourished 
long after the former, and by whom learning was 
revived after it had fallen into decay in that empire. 
By him, it is said, the hieroglyphic al writings of the 
first Hermes were interpreted, the explanation of 
which, accompanied with large commentaries, were 
written in books, most sacredly deposited in the 
Egyptian temples, from which unhappily they 
never emerged. So extravagant are the fables 
respecting this supposed prodigy of learning, that 
he is said to have been " the author of more than 
twenty thousand volumes, which treated of universal 
principles, of the nature and order of celestial beings, 
of astrology, of medicine, and many other sciences." 



62 EGYPT. [[PART I. 

50. The metaphysical philosophy of the ancient 
Egyptians, (or rather, of their priests ; for to that 
privileged order all knowledge was confined,) bears a 
strong resemblance to that of the Hindoos and Per- 
sians, and probably had a common origin. It pro- 
ceeded upon the principle of two original principles ; 
the one material, passive, and inert ; the other ac- 
tive, intelligent, and spiritual. The former of these 
was represented as Chaos, or Night, and worshipped 
under the name of Athor : the latter, according to 
Plutarch, was their supreme divinity, whose emana- 
tions filled the universe with light and life — with 
motion and enjoyment. But in connexion with this 
belief in an eternal, all-pervading intelligence, the 
Egyptians acknowledged and worshipped an im- 
mense multitude of inferior divinities, so that idolatry 
assumed amongst them its grossest and most loath- 
some form. Their notions of the human soul, of 
a future state of rewards and punishments, of the 
dissolution and reproduction of universal nature, 
with many other speculative tenets, were, it is 
highly probable, derived in the first instance from 
the family of Abraham, and were corrupted tra- 
ditions of the original revelation. But with these 
were blended the mythological fables, that prevailed 
more or less among all the eastern nations, respecting 
transmigration, the state of the dead, and a thousand 
other speculative absurdities. 

51. In common with all other oriental nations, 
the Egyptians directed their first attention to 
astronomy; a science, in the principles of which 
they were probably instructed by the Chaldaean 



SECT. VlJ EGYPT. 63 

Magi. There is little reason to believe that their 
attainments in this sublime science were consider- 
able. Indeed it is impossible, with the means of 
observation and knowledge then possessed, that they 
should have been such. Diogenes Laertius refers to 
astronomical calculations of eclipses made by the 
Egyptians, which carry us back to the sixteenth or 
seventeenth century before the Christian iEra. It 
has been inferred, from some passages found in the 
writings of Aristotle and Plutarch, that Pythagoras 
was instructed by the Egyptian priests in what 
is now known to be the true solar system, and that 
they maintained that the planets and comets re- 
volve round the sun as their centre, and perform 
diurnal revolutions on their own axes; but if this 
knowledge were really possessed by them, it is 
manifest that this theory was treated by the Grecian 
astronomers as visionary and absurd, nor was it 
understood by the Egyptian priests themselves, who 
merely handed it down to posterity as an inscru- 
table mystery, to be believed, without evidence, 
on their sole authority. The more probable opinion 
on this subject is, that the Egyptian priests knew 
little more of astronomy than that which arose 
from an attentive observation of the aspect of the 
heavens, chiefly with a view to astrological pre- 
dictions, or for the purposes of agriculture. Some 
practical skill, however, must have been possessed 
by this people in astronomical science when their 
Pyramids were built, since it is found that they 
are so constructed as exactly to face the four car- 
dinal points, which could not have been effected 



64 EGYPT. [PART I. 

without an accurate knowledge of the meridian 
line. All antiquity also attests, that the Egyptians 
first divided the year into twelve months, of thirty 
days, to which were afterwards added five supple- 
mentary days in every year, and a sixth every fourth 
year. 

52. Geometry is universally acknowledged to 
have originated in Egypt. This is expressly asserted 
by Herodotus, the most ancient of profane his- 
torians, who gives the following account of the 
circumstances leading to the invention of this im- 
portant science :— *-" I was informed," says Herodotus, 
" that Sesostris had divided Egypt among all his 
subjects, assigning to each an equal portion of land, 
on condition of paying an annual tax. If, in conse- 
quence of the overflowing of the Nile, the allotment 
of any one was diminished or rendered doubtful, 
the king caused it to be measured, and required 
a tribute in proportion to that which remained. 
'*■ Hence," adds the historian, " arose geometry, and 
thus was it transmitted to the Greeks. But a 
modern writer on the history of this science has 
justly observed, that, though the statement of 
Herodotus proves some knowledge of geometry to 
have been possessed in the reign of Sesostris, the 
contemporary of Solomon, it does not prove that it 
originated at that time. The probability is, that it 
may be traced much higher ; that the invention 
must have been prompted by the same necessity, 
which led to the use of the rule and square and 
compasses in architecture ; and was practically, if 
not theoretically, understood in the very infancy of 



SECT. VI>3 EGYPT, 65 

society. There is no proof that the mathematical 
knowledge of the Egyptians exceeded that which 
was requisite to practise the art of mensuration, to 
construct drafts and schemes, the proportions and 
dimensions of which were accurately laid down ; and 
perhaps, from these, by an easy transition, to pro- 
ceed to the solution of a few simple geometrical 
problems. 

53. The sciences of medicine and chemistry, in 
their most elementary states, have also been traced 
to the ancient Egyptians. The former of these, and 
its inseparable companion, anatomy, was certainly 
cultivated with some degree of success, at a very 
early period of the history of that nation. For the 
practice, observed by them from remote antiquity, 
of embalming the dead, proves their partial ac- 
quaintance with the properties of natural substances, 
the power of certain drugs in preserving from decay, 
and some degree of scientific skill in compounding 
them; and the manner in which this ancient rite 
was performed indicates some acquaintance with the 
construction and anatomy of the human frame. The 
invention of the healing art was ascribed by the 
Egyptians themselves to certain benevolent deities, 
to whom they gave the names of Isis and Serapis, or 
iEsculapius ; and to whose honour they erected 
temples and altars : but it is probable that the true 
history of the case is, that these were individuals 
who rendered themselves eminent, while they lived, 
in the successful application of those drugs, with 
which Egypt abounds, to the cure of diseases, and 



66 EGYPT. [PART I. 

who, after their death, were elevated by their super- 
stitious countrymen to the rank of demi-gods. 

54. But the science (if science it may be called,) 
for which the ancient Egyptians were most famous, 
and which was most highly esteemed by them, was 
that of magic, or the power of producing super- 
natural appearances, interpreting dreams, and fore- 
telling future events by certain mystical processes 
known only to the initiated. It cannot be doubted, 
that there was much of juggle and artifice in this 
pretended science — that the proficients in this art 
practised successfully on the ignorance and credu- 
lity of the vulgar ; yet, from what is stated in the 
book of Exodus, of the successful imitation of some 
of the miracles of Moses by the magicians of 
Pharaoh, it is evident that they must have possessed 
a greater knowledge of some of the latent proper- 
ties of natural substances than was known to their 
descendants, and that this their physical science was 
employed for purposes of deception. This art was 
founded on two principles of popular belief which 
then prevailed; the first, a persuasion that the 
heavenly bodies exerted a constant and mighty in- 
fluence on mundane affairs; and the second, that 
spirits or daemons of a nature superior to men were 
employed in the government of the world, and had 
their several provinces appointed them by the 
Supreme Divinity. In addition to the preceding 
facts, tending to prove the early civilization of the 
Egyptians, and their acquaintance with some of 
the practical sciences, it may be stated that com- 
merce, if not invented by them, was much improved 



ECT. VIl/] PHOENICIA. 67 

and successfully cultivated in very remote ages ; 
and that the art of navigation was carried farther by 
that ingenious people, than by any other of the 
oriental nations. — Vid. Anc. Univ. Hist. (Egypt.) 
Enfield's Hist. o/Philos. Vol. I. p. 63. 



Section VII. 

PHCENICIA. 



55. Phoenicia was the connecting link between 
the eastern and southern provinces of Asia, and those 
parts of Europe and Africa which border on the 
Mediterranean. Its inhabitants are chiefly known 
to posterity as a commercial people. Their mer- 
chandize was extensive, and is said, in remote anti- 
quity, to have reached even to the British isles. 
Together with the articles of commerce, to which 
they owed their wealth and political importance, 
they conveyed to other lands the knowledge, both 
scientific and practical, which they possessed. This 
knowledge was probably confined within narrow 
limits ; but it was such as to render them eminently 
the benefactors of mankind. By the same process 
of inferential reasoning, which has been applied to 
Arabia, it may be concluded that the Phoenicians 
were not destitute of science. They must have 
possessed some geographical knowledge, accustomed 
as they were to make voyages to distant lands. They 
must have attained to no inconsiderable degree of 
practical skill in navigation, and as a prerequisite 

f2 



68 PH(ENICIA. [[PART I. 

to this, must have derived, either from the Egyptians 
or the Chaldseans, some knowledge of astronomy. 
Nor is it the least honour that attaches to this 
enterprising people, that while other eastern nations 
degraded the science of astronomy, by rendering it 
subservient to astrology, they applied it to the pur- 
poses of navigation. Fixing on one of the stars of 
Ursa Minor, situated near to that immoveable point 
in the heavens, called the North Pole, they were 
enabled to navigate the sea with greater certainty, 
and to undertake more adventurous voyages,, than 
any other nation of antiquity. To these facts it 
may be added, that their merchandize could not 
have become so celebrated without some degree 
of physical science, by which they discovered the 
properties of natural substances, and some mechani- 
cal knowledge, by which those substances might be 
manufactured or otherwise prepared for exporta- 
tion. 

56. The principal reason, however, for including 
Phoenicia in this sketch of ancient literature is, that 
there appear to have flourished among that people 
two or three individuals who contributed, by their 
writings or their inventions, to the advancement 
and wider diffusion of knowledge. The most 
ancient of these was Sanchoniatho, whose history is 
involved in much obscurity, and whose writings are 
only known through the medium of other works of 
antiquity. If the testimony of Porphyry and Philo 
Biblius can be credited, Sanchoniatho flourished long 
before the Trojan War, and was a contemporary of 
Semiramis. But as these enemies of Christianity 
evidently wished to throw discredit on the Jewish 



SECT. VIl/] PHOENICIA. 69 

Scriptures, by shewing that another history existed, 
giving a different account of the creation of the 
world than that given by Moses, and yet of equal 
if not greater antiquity, there is much reason to 
doubt whether reliance can be placed on their 
testimony. The principal evidence for the authen- 
ticity and antiquity of the works of Sanchoniatho, is 
Eusebius, a learned christian writer, who seems to 
have entertained no doubt of their genuineness, and 
has preserved some fragments of this ancient his- 
tory, though he does not determine their date. In 
addition to the testimony of Eusebius, that of Theo- 
doret may be mentioned, who informs us, that 
" Sanchoniatho wrote a history of the beginning of 
the world, with much fidelity, and applied himself 
diligently to the examination of ancient records; 
particularly those which contained authentic me- 
morials of the Egyptian Taaut or Thoth, called 
by the Greeks Hermes, and by the Latins 
Mercury." 

57. The cosmogony of Sanchoniatho, though a 
highly curious relic of antiquity, is too fanciful and 
absurd to obtain a place in the history of philo- 
sophy. Suffice it to say in general, that its distin- 
guishing feature was, the notion that the material 
world was produced by the action or necessary 
energy of an eternal principle, destitute of intelli- 
gence and life, on an eternal passive chaotic mass. 
Such a system might well be denounced by Euse- 
bius as direct atheism. It seems to have been of 
Indian origin, as a striking resemblance may be 
perceived between some of the speculations of the 



70 PHOENICIA. [[PART I. 

Hindoo philosophers of antiquity, (as stated above) 
and the pretended history of the creation, given by 
the Phoenician historian. Here too we may per- 
ceive some of the rude chaotic elements, which were 
afterwards expanded into the Platonic philosophy. 
The most important use, however, to be made of 
this relic of antiquity, as far as it is now known, is to 
gather thence indirect evidences of the truth of 
scripture ; for a modern writer has justly observed, 
" that we, who have in our hands the volume of 
divine revelation, may discover, even in this dun- 
geon, many excellent relics of ancient traditions, 
which throw no feeble light on many passages of 
Holy Scripture ; as they give us the origin and pro- 
gress of that idolatry which was so long the oppro- 
brium of human nature ;" and, alas ! is such still. 
They furnish, too, a complete confutation of the 
Chaldaean, Egyptian, Hindoo, and Chinese chro- 
nologies ; proving, if they be genuine, that the 
world could not be older than it is said to be by 
Moses. 

58. Some ancient writers speak of a Phoenician 
philosopher, (named Moschus, by Posidonius; and 
Mochus, by Jamhlickus,) who is said to have flou- 
rished before the time of Pythagoras, but whom the 
learned Selden conjectures to have been no other 
than the Jewish legislator Moses himself. If any 
reliance can be placed on the testimony of the 
ancient writers mentioned above, Moschus was the 
founder of a system of philosophy, which afterwards 
became celebrated in Greece, as the Atomic Philo- 
sophy. Cud worth, in his elaborate researches into 



SECT. VII.] PHOENICIA. 71 

the philosophy of the ancients, contained in his 
" Intellectual System/' inclines to this opinion, and 
traces back what he terms the " atomlcal physi- 
ology? far above Democritus, or Epicurus, or even 
Pythagoras himself, to the Phoenician philosopher 
Moschus, who is said, by Strabo, to have lived before 
the Trojan War.— Enfield's Hist, of Philos. Vol. I. 
p. 58—62. 

59. In even the most cursory sketch of ancient 
and modern literature, it were inexcusable wholly 
to pass unnoticed the individual who is generally 
believed to have communicated the knowledge of 
letters to the Greeks, and through them to the 
whole world. Whatever fables may have been 
interwoven with the history of Cadmus, there seems 
no reason to doubt that he was a native of Phoe- 
nicia, who introduced among the aboriginal inhabi- 
tants of that part of Greece in which he settled, 
the Phoenician alphabetical characters, which sub- 
sequently underwent gradual changes, till the 
Greek alphabet was produced. Humble as this 
attempt towards the civilization of a yet barbarous 
people may appear, the effects were incalculably 
great. It may be considered as the tender germ 
of that rich harvest of knowledge which has con- 
tinued to be reaped from year to year, and from 
age to age, even to the present hour, and in almost 
every part of the civilized world. 



PART II. 

THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE GREEKS AND 
ROMANS. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE FABULOUS AGES. 



60. We now approach what may be justly 
accounted the chosen residence of Ancient Philo- 
sophy and Science ; for whatever may be the claims 
of oriental nations to precedence in the order of 
time, it cannot be denied that Greece was the 
country in which literature of every description 
first acquired a regular and systematic form. The 
men of learning, who flourished at different and 
distant periods in Chaldaea, Persia, or Egypt, pre- 
pared the way, it is true, for the more celebrated 
philosophers of Greece; but it was not till the 
literature of the East was transplanted into the more 
fruitful soil of the Grecian republics, that the inves- 
tigations and developements of human genius can 
be said to have acquired a permanent character. 
It is well known that Greece was first civilized by 
colonies from Egypt, Phoenicia, and Thrace. The 



CHAP, ij THE FABULOUS AGES. 73 

earliest institutions which prevailed, the most an- 
cient dialects spoken, and the speculative opinions 
maintained, sufficiently indicate the source whence 
they were derived. It was therefore to be expected, 
that the resemblance would be strongly marked 
between the literature of the parent countries, and 
that introduced into the colonial settlements. Ac- 
cordingly we find, that during what are usually, 
and not improperly, called the fabulous ages of 
Grecian history, the same mode of philosophizing 
was adopted, which had characterized the philo- 
sophy of the East, and the same sciences were cul- 
tivated in which some progress had been already 
made by their oriental instructors. The chiefs of 
the newly planted colonies, or those who had ac- 
quired the reputation of superior wisdom, taught 
the same religious dogmas, inculcated the same 
moral precepts, pursued the same intellectual spe- 
culations, and engaged in the same scientific pur- 
suits, in which they had been trained from their 
earliest years by eastern Magi. As we have seen, 
in the preceding sketch of oriental literature, that 
the philosophers of India, China, Persia, Arabia, and 
Egypt, directed their chief attention to the origin 
of the material universe, its successive changes, and 
its final destination ; or speculated on the nature 
of the human soul, its emanation, re-absorption, or 
transmigration ; so the first subjects of investigation 
among the most ancient philosophers of Greece, 
seem to have been Theogony and Cosmogony — the 
nature of the gods and the formation of all things. 
These sublime mysteries, or rather, the absurd 



74 THE FABULOUS AGES. [PART II. 

speculations of human ignorance respecting these 
mysterious subjects, were, after the manner of eastern 
nations, obscurely taught in allegories and mytho- 
logical fables, disguised by poetical fictions the 
most extravagant, and, in some instances, most 
absurd. 

61. From the scanty materials which the records 
of antiquity furnish of the infancy of Grecian phi- 
losophy, it may be gathered, that it was nurtured 
in the lap of the Muses ; for, unquestionably, the 
first philosophers of Greece were poets. To their 
compositions we are indebted for all that is now 
known of the literary history of the fabulous ages. 
The most important sources of information on this 
subject, are the Orphic Hymns, and the Poems of 
Hesiod ; for the traditions respecting Linus, as the 
inventor of lyric poetry, a skilful musician, and the 
writer of an ancient cosmogony, part of which has 
been preserved by Diogenes Laertius, are too vague 
and imperfect to claim a distinct notice. 

Although it has been questioned by some among 
the ancients, and by many moderns, whether 
Orpheus were a real person or only a fictitious cha- 
racter, it is certain that there were verses commonly 
known in Greece at a very early period, bearing his 
name, and generally believed to have been collected 
after his death by some of his disciples. Diodorus 
Siculus speaks of Orpheus as a celebrated master 
of philosophy, poetry, and music, who acquired a 
knowledge of the mysteries of religion in Egypt, 
and taught them to his countrymen. The probable 
history of Orpheus is briefly this,— that he was one 



CHAP. I.)] THE FABULOUS AGES. 75 

who acquired some distinction in a rude age, and 
amongst a comparatively uncivilized people, by his 
skill in music, poetry, astrology, and perhaps me- 
dicine also ; that he thus acquired an ascendancy 
over them, so as to be held in high veneration by 
the barbarous tribes among whom he dwelt ; and 
that this is the true meaning of the fable respecting 
the attractive influence of the lyre of Orpheus on 
the brute creation. 

62. Fragments of the moral and philosophical 
poems attributed to Orpheus, have been preserved 
in the writings of Eusebius, Clemens Alexandrinus, 
Proclus, Apuleius, and others ; from which may be 
collected some brief notices of the metaphysical 
theology of the remote age in which they were 
written. It will be manifest, from the following 
summary, that it was of eastern origin, and that it 
formed the basis of the several systems of philosophy 
which subsequently prevailed in Greece. From 
these ancient Hymns it would appear, that " the 
Orphic doctrines respecting God and nature were, 
that the supreme Divinity contained within himself, 
from all eternity, the unformed principles of the 
material world, and that he consisted of a compound 
nature, active and passive. By the energy of the 
active principle, he sent forth from himself, at the 
commencement of a certain finite period, all material 
and spiritual beings, which partake, in different 
degrees, of the divine nature. All beings, having 
emanated from the Deity, will, after certain purga- 
tions, return to him. The universe itself, after 
having been destroyed by fire, will be renewed, by 



76 THE FABULOUS AGES. [PART IL 

the power of Jupiter, in beauty and in perfection." 
Some critics have imagined, that the allegorical 
parts of these poems obscurely intimate the im- 
mortality of the soul, and a future state of rewards 
and punishments. Respecting the material system 
of the universe, he is said to have taught his dis- 
ciples, "that the moon and planets are habitable 
worlds, and the stars fiery bodies like the sun, all of 
which are animated by subordinate divinities, who 
dwell in and preside over them." — E?ifield's Hist, of 
Philos. Vol. I. p. 112—117. 

63. The name of Hesiod next occurs in the 
annals of Grecian literature — if a collection of crude 
notions and absurd speculations respecting the 
genealogy of the heathen gods, and the origin of 
the material universe, may be permitted, on the 
ground of its antiquity, to claim this distinction. 
The general feature of Hesiod's system of theogony 
is, that " an eternal chaos was the origin of all 
things ;" by which term he seems to have intended 
the elementary mass in which all the seeds of nature 
were contained, or that unformed matter, eternally 
existing, as a passive principle, whence all created 
forms have been produced. The basis of this system 
was evidently atheistical, though upon it was reared 
a massy fabric of superstitious theology.* The 

* Dr. Enfield has given, in the following passage, a luminous 
and correct view of these ancient systems, and pointed out their 
distinguishing features : — " There were different opinions among 
the ancient cosmogonists, concerning the first cause of nature. 
Some might possibly ascribe the origin of all things to a gene- 
rating force destitute of thought, which they conceived to be 



CHAP, ij THE FABULOUS AGES. 77 

poems of Hesiod are no otherwise important in 
connexion with the history of Grecian philosophy, 
than as they contain the elements of some of those 
systems which afterwards acquired great celebrity, 
as affording the earliest indication of the dawn of 
Grecian literature, and as exhibiting a singular and 
deeply affecting example of the perversion of the 
human mind, without the aid of divine revelation. 
Homer, his illustrious contemporary, who recited 
those national ballads which were afterwards col- 
lected into the " Iliad" and " Odyssey," makes no 
pretensions to science or philosophy ; but there is, 
in reality, more true wisdom, and a more intimate 
acquaintance discovered with nature— both animate 
and inanimate, corporeal and intellectual — in one 
page of the writings of that celebrated bard of 
antiquity, than will be found in all the didactic 
and mythological poems of Hesiod. 

64. The next stage in the earliest history of 
Grecian philosophy, is that, in which poetical alle- 
gories gave place to proverhial maxims, delivered, 
with a kind of oracular dignity and authority, by a 
few individuals, celebrated for their political or moral 

inherent in matter, without looking to any higher principle. 
But it is probable, that the general opinion among them was 
that which had prevailed among the Egyptians and in the East, 
and was communicated by tradition to the Greeks, ' that matter 
or chaos existed eternally with God, and that by the divine 
energy of emanation, material forms were sent forth from him, 
and the visible world rose into existence.' This principle being 
admitted, the whole system of the ancient theogonies appears 
consistent, and a satisfactory explanation may be given of most 
of the Grecian fables."— Vid. Hist, of Philos. Vol. I. p. 121. 



78 THE FABULOUS AGES. [PART II. 

wisdom, and who were, on that account, emphatically 
styled (To(j)oi, or wise men. These were men of prac- 
tical science, who, by their political institutions and 
moral precepts, contributed much more effectually 
and extensively to the improvement of society and 
the increase of knowledge, than all the speculative 
philosophers who had preceded them. The names 
of these distinguished individuals must be familiar 
to all who are conversant with ancient history ; and 
many of their sententious aphorisms have been 
justly admired. Seven of these sages of antiquity 
obtained (whether by accident, or from their superior 
wisdom, it is not easy to determine) an honourable 
pre-eminence, which has rendered their names im- 
perishable, though few memorials of their wisdom 
have been preserved. These were Thales of Miletus 
(to whom we shall have occasion to refer more par- 
ticularly hereafter) ; Solon, the celebrated Athenian 
legislator ; Chilon, a native of Lacedsemon ; Pittacus 
of Mitylene, a city of Lesbos ; Bias of Priene, in 
Ionia ; Cleobulus, a Rhodian ; and Periander of 
Corinth. Some writers substitute for the latter of 
these, the name of Epimenides of Crete, who 
flourished about the same period, and is said to 
have been the first builder of temples in Greece. 
Of the personal and private history of most of these 
individuals, little is known, (with the exception of 
Solon,) and that little is contradictory and uncertain. 
It is not, however, as princes, or statesmen, or 
warriors, they are introduced in this place, but as 
ethical philosophers, and teachers of moral wisdom, 
who employed their influence and talents for 



CHAP. 1.3 THE FABULOUS AGES. 79 

beneficial purposes. None of them (except Thales) 
were, in the strictest sense of the term, men of 
science ; nor were they speculative philosophers, 
giving celebrity, like Plato or Aristotle, to theories 
of their own invention; but they did more — they 
brought their wisdom and experience to bear on the 
interests of social life, and the moral instruction 
of their species. 

65. Without entering into detail, it may be suf- 
ficient to furnish a few specimens of the didactic 
aphorisms attributed to this class of ancient Greek 
philosophers. 

(1.) To Thales, among many others, the following 
aphorisms are attributed : " Be equally mindful of 
friends, present and absent. Study not to beautify 
thy face, but thy mind. Enrich not thyself by 
unjust means. Cherish thy parents. If a governor, 
rule thyself. Use moderation. Believe not every 
thing. Be not idle, though rich." His favourite 
motto, attributed by some of the ancients to 
Apollo, was, Know thyself— & maxim which cannot 
be too deeply impressed upon the memory. 

(2.) To Solon, among others of a political character, 
the following are ascribed : — " Nothing too much. 
Fly pleasures, for they bring sorrow. Observe ho- 
nesty in conversation more strictly than an oath. 
Lie not, but speak the truth. Meditate on serious 
things. Procure not, nor part with friends, in haste. 
By learning to obey, you will know how to com- 
mand." 

(3.) To Chilon, — " Three things are difficult ; to 
keep a secret, to bear an injury patiently, and to 



80 THE FABULOUS AGES. [[PART II* 

spend leisure time well. Visit your friend in ad- 
versity rather than in prosperity. Honour old age. 
Think before you speak. Gold is tried by the 
touchstone, and men are tried by gold :" to which 
some have added the above-mentioned motto of 
Thales, as first delivered by Chilon, " Know thyself" 

(4.) To Pittacus, — " Power discovers the man. 
Watch for opportunity. Reproach not the un- 
happy, for the hand of God is upon them. What- 
ever thou doest, do it well. What thou takest ill 
in thy neighbour, do not thyself." 

(5.) To Bias, — " Great minds alone can support 
sudden reverses of fortune. Love your friend with 
caution, for hereafter he may become your enemy. 
Be slow in undertaking, but resolute in executing. 
Abhor to speak hastily, for then repentance follows. 
Preserve thy actions in remembrance." 

(6.) To Cleobulus, — " Employ thyself in things 
excellent. Take care of thy body and soul. Govern 
thy tongue. Preserve piety. Do nothing by violence. 
Instruct thy children. If rich, be not exalted ; if 
poor, be not cast down. Avoid excess." 

(7.) To Periander, — "Pleasures are mortal, virtue 
is immortal. Seek to be worthy of your parents. 
There is nothing which prudence cannot accomplish. 
Keep thy word. Betray not secrets. Conceal thy 
misfortunes," &c. &c. 

Such were the moral maxims delivered in the 
earliest period of Grecian civilization, which may be 
well supposed to have materially contributed to its 
advancement, by the ease with which they were re- 
membered, and their adaptation to the circumstances 



CHAP. II.3 ANCIENT PHILOSOPHERS. 81 

of domestic and social life. Nor can we wonder 
that in the infancy of society, those who could ex- 
press in a few words, and especially in verse, such 
useful moral precepts, should have become celebrated 
for their wisdom.* 



CHAPTER II. 

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION OF THE ANCIENT 
PHILOSOPHERS. 

66, During the earliest period of Grecian litera- 
ture, it will appear from the last chapter, that there 
flourished a few individuals, who were distinguished 
from the mass of their contemporaries by their re- 
puted wisdom, and who exercised, while they lived, 
a kind of intellectual despotism over the understand- 
ings and opinions of the vulgar. Their maxims 
were deemed authoritative and oracular ; their 
proverbial sayings were handed down from age to 
age with little less than religious veneration ; and 
after their death, divine honours were, in some 
instances, paid to their memory. But none of these 
ancient sages appear to have gathered disciples 
around them, or reduced their philosophical specu- 

* Those who would extend the selection, will find them in an 
abridged form, in Dr. Enfield's History of Philosophy, and more 
fully stated in Stanley's Lives of the Philosophers. Their 
original terms have been preserved by Diogenes Laertius — 
Plutarch — Stobaeus — and other ancient writers. 



82 CLASSIFICATION OF THE [>ART II. 

lations to a regular system. Satisfied with securing 
to themselves the reputation of wise men, they do 
not appear in any instance (if we except Thales of 
Miletus) to have aimed at the establishment of 
philosophical sects, bearing their name, and by 
which their tenets might be propagated. But in 
process of time, knowledge became more widely 
diffused among the Greeks, and assumed a more 
systematic character. Many engaged in the diligent 
pursuit of such speculative and practical sciences as 
were then imperfectly known, and attached them- 
selves to different leaders. A species of literary 
oligarchy arose. It became an object of ambition 
to every candidate for literary distinction and 
posthumous fame, to become the founder of a new 
sect, and extend as widely as possible its distinguish- 
ing tenets. Hence arose the numerous schools of 
philosophy, which, for the most part, originated in 
Greece, or in some of its dependencies, and afterwards 
spread over the Roman empire and the greater part 
of the civilized world. 

67. The principal schools of philosophy among 
the Greeks and Romans have usually been divided 
into two classes— the Ionic and the Italic; the 
former of which originated with Thales, and the 
latter with Pythagoras. From these arose numerous 
other sects, which were distinguished partly by the 
tenets they maintained, but chiefly by the individuals 
whose names they bear. Some of these were com- 
paratively of short duration, but others long 
continued to flourish, and were propagated by 
many distinguished philosophers. From the inde- 



CHAP. II.] ANCIENT PHILOSOPHERS. 83 

pendent states of Greece, they were transplanted 
either into the metropolis of the Roman empire, 
or some of its distant provinces, until at length 
they were blended into one sect, which, from its 
amalgamation of different systems, was called the 
Eclectic, and which continued to flourish till the 
final subversion of the Roman empire. These an- 
cient schools of philosophy were so various and 
numerous, and the philosophers belonging to each 
have been so frequently confounded, that it may 
not be unacceptable to the juvenile reader of these 
pages, to be furnished with a distinct classification 
of them, in the order in which they arose, that he 
may perceive at one view the sect to which they 
respectively belonged — the departments of physical 
or intellectual science in which they excelled — and 
the chronological order in which they flourished. 
For this purpose, the following Tables, though by 
no means complete, may perhaps be sufficiently 
accurate. 



g2 



84 



CLASSIFICATION OF THE [PART II, 



CLASS I. 
SCIENTIFIC PHILOSOPHERS. 



MATHEMATICIANS. COUNTRY. 


«* 

DATE. 


ASTRONOMERS. 


COUNTRY. 


DATE. 


Thales 


Miletus ... 


600 


Thales 








Pythagoras . . 


Samos , . . 


550 


Anaximander . 


Miletus 


570 


(Enopidus. . . . 


Chios ..... 


480 


Pythagoras . . 


_ — 


— 


Zenodorus. . . . 





ibid. 


Cleostratus . . 


Tenedos.... 


550 


Democritus . . 


Abdera . . . 


430 


Philolaus 


Crotona 


400 


Hippocrates . . 


Chios 


450 


Hicetas 


Syracuse . . 


— 


Plato 


Athens . . . 


370 


Meton 


Athens . . . 


. 440 


Archytas .... 


ibid 


ibid. 


Euctemon 


ibid 


. — 


Leodamus .... 





— 


Calippus 


Cyzicum. . . 


. 360 


Thceetetus .... 





— 


Eudoxus 


Cnidos . . . 


. — 


Aristeus 





380 


Callisthenes . . 


Macedon . 


. 330 


Menechmus . . 


Athens 


ibid. 


Aristotle 


Stagira . . . 


. 340 


Dinostratus . . 


ibid 


. — 


Eratosthenes. . 


Alexandria . 


. 280 


Eudoxus .... 


Cnidos . . . 


. 365 


Timochares . . 


ibid 


. — 


Eudemus .... 





— 


Aristillus 


ibid 


. 270 


Theophrastus . 


Lesbos . . . 


. 310 


Archimedes . 


Syracuse. . . 


. 250 


Isidorus 


. 


— 


Aratus 


Tarsus . . . 


. — 


Hysicles . . . 


. 


— 


Aristarchus . . 


Samos . . . 


. 280 


Euclid 


. Alexandria. 


. 300 


Hipparchus . 


Nice ..... 


. 142 


Dinocrates . 


. Macedon . 


. ibid. 


Posidonius . 


Rhodes . . . 


. 60 


Nicomedes . 


. 


280 


Cleomedes . 


. 


70 


Archimedes . 


. Syracuse. . . 


. 250 


Geminus . . . 


Rhodes . . . 


. 70 


Apollonius . 


. Perga 


. 200 


Sosigenes . . . 


. Alexandria. 


. 35 


Theodosius . 


. Tripoli . . . 


. 60 


Manilius . . . 


. 


35 


Menelaus . . . 


. Caria a 


.d. 55 


Frontinus . . . 


. Rome 


. 100 


Diophantus . 




. 350 


Ptolemy 


. Alexandria . 


. 140 


Pappus 


. ibid 


. 385 


Ctesibius . . . 


ibid 


. ibid. 


Diodes 


. ibid 


. ibid. 


Hero 


. ibid. " 


, ibid. 


Serenus 


. ibid 


. 380 


Anthemius . 


. Tralles ... 


. ibid. 


Theon ..... 


. ibid 


. 400 








Hypatia , . . 


. ibid 


. ibid. 








Proclus . ... 


. Athens . . . 


. 460 






i 



85 



CHAP. llO ANCIENT PHILOSOPHERS. 

CLASS IT. 

PHILOSOPHERS OF THE IONIC SECT. 



SCHOOLS OF PHILOSOPHY. NAMES. COUNTRY. DATE. 

Founded by Thales of Miletus, about a.c. 600. 

/-Anaximander Miletus 

I Anaximenes 

I. The Ionic (proper)< Anaxagoras Clazomene 

I Diogenes Apolloniates Miletus 
v Archelaus Athens 

Founded by Socrates of Athens, about a.c. 420. 

Xenophon Athens 

iEschines 

Cimon 

II. The Socratic *\ Crito 

Cebes Thebes 

Glaucon Athens 

Besides several Founders of New Schools. 

Founded by Aristippus of Cyrene, in Africa, about a.c. 380. 

/"Arete Cyrene 

I Antipater Tarsus 

I Parabatis Cyrene 

in. The Cyrenaic J Hegesias 

\ Anacerns 

Aristippus, Jun 

Theodoras 

V Bion Borysthenes 






Founded by Euclid of Megara, about a.c. 360. 

r Eubulides Miletus 

V Diodorus . Caria 

iv. TheMEGAitic,orJ Stilpo Megara 

Eristhic j Alexinus Elis 

/ Euphantus Oiynthus 

^-Apollonius (Cronus) Cyrene 

Founded by Pioedo of Elis about a.c. 360. 

« tk/» t?t T . „ ^ C Phsthenes Elis 

v. lhe Eliac, or > n/r , V. * ■ 

x^^,,, \ Menedemus Eretria 

Eretriac / zr? i • j 

v. /Esclepiades 



86 



CLASSIFICATION OF THE 



[PART II. 



SCHOOLS OF PHILOSOPHY. NAMES. COUNTRY. DATE. 

vi. The Academic, Founded by Plato of Athens, about a.c. 370. 

Founded by Speusippus of Athens, a.c. 350. 
^ Xenocrates .... Chalcedon 
Subdivided into i Poleraon Athens 

1. The Old Academy ) Crates Ibid. 

i Crantor Soli 

C (With several Founders of New Sects.) 

Founded by Arcesilaus of Molis about a.c. 280. 

r Lacydes Cyrene 

2. Middle Academy < Evander . Ibid. 

v. Egesinus Pergamos 

Founded by Carneades of Cyrene, about a. c. 1 80. 

3. The New Aca- £ gj£^™ ; ; \ \ g^f 
t Antiochus Ascalon 



demy 



Founded by Aristotle of Slagira, about a.c. 350. 
/-Theophrastus . . Eresium in Lesbos 
I Callisthenes .... Olynthus 

Strabo Lampsacus 

I Lycon Troas 

vn. The Peripa- j Aristo Coos 

* Critolaus Athens 

Diodorus , . . . . — 
Demet. Phalerius iUhens 
i Dicearchus .... Messenia 
LEumenes Rhodes 

Founded by Antisthenes of Athens, about a.c. 380. 

r Diogenes Sinope in Pontus 

I Onesicritus .... iEgina 

J Crates Thebes 

j Metrocles Ibid. 

/ Menippus Sinope 

v-Menedemus .... Lampsacus 



viii. The Cynic 



Founded by Zeno of Cyprus, 
/-Persaeus Corinth 



about a. c. 300. 



ix. The Stoic 



Aristo Chios 

Herillus Carthage 

Sphaerus Borysthenes 

Cleanthes Lydia 

Chrysippus .... Solis in Cilicia 

Zeno Tarsus 

Diogenes Seleucia by Babylon 

Panaetius Rhodes 

^Posidonius Apamea in Syria 

Of the Ionic Sects, the schools which nourished most among the 
Romans were the Academic, the Peripatetic, and the Stoic. 



CHAP. II.]] ANCIENT PHILOSOPHERS. 

CLASS III. -THE ITALIC SECT. 



87 



SCHOOLS OF PHILOSOPHY. NAMES. COUNTRY. DATE. 

Founded by Pythagoras of Samos, a.c. 550. 

rAristseus Crotona 

i Menisarchus .... Samos 
l Alcmaeon Crotona 

IEmpedocles .... Agrigentum 
Ecphantus .... Syracuse 

i. IhelTALic (proper; J Hippo Rhegium 

Epicharmus Coos 

Archytas Tarentum 

Timaeus Locris 

Philolaus Crotona 

LEudoxus, &c. Sbc. Cnidos 

Founded by Xenophanes of Colophon, a.c. 500. 
Parmenides .... Elea 

^Zeno ibid. 

l Leucippus .... ibid. 

ii. The Eleatic < Melissus Samos 

i Democritus Abdera in Thrace 

^Protagoras ibid. 

Anaxarchus .... ibid. 

Founded by Heraclitus of Ephesus, a.c. 500. 

r Zeno Athens (the Eleatic) 

< Hippocrates .... Cos (afterwards Athens) 
i. Cratylus Athens 

Founded by Epicurus of Athens, a. c. 300. 
fMetrodorus .... Lampsacus 

Poly anus ibid. 

Hermachus .... Mitylene 

Leontius Lampsacus 

iv. The Epicurean <{ Colotes ibid. 

! Idomeneus .... ibid. 

Poly stratus .... 

Hippoclides .... 

LBasilides, &c.&c. 

Founded by Pyrrho of Elea, a. c 320. 

STimon Phliasia 

Ptolemseus .... Cyrene 

JEnesidemus. . . . Alexandria 

Dioscorides .... Cyprus 

Menodotus .... Nicomedia 

Herodotus .... Tarsus 

Of the Italic Sects, those which were best known, and continued 
longest to nourish among the Romans, were the Pythagorean and the 
Epicurean. 



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CHAP. II.] ANCIENT PHILOSOPHERS. 



89 



CLASS V. 
ECLECTIC PHILOSOPHERS, 

OTHERWISE CALLED THE ALEXANDRIAN SECT, OR LATER PLATONISTS, 

Flourished daring the Second, Third, and Fourth Centuries. 



1. CHRISTIAN PHILOSOPHERS. 



PAGAN PHILOSOPHERS, 



Justin Martyr of Neapolis . . 


A.D. 

150 


Potamo .... 


Alexandria . 


180 


Tatian 


Syria 


170 


Ammonius . . 


Ibid 


230 


Theophilus . . 


Antioch 


180 


Dionysius Long 


n. Emesa . . 


260 


Irenaeus .... 


Smyrna 


ib. 


Plotinus 


Lycopolis . . 


250 


Athenagoras. . 


Athens 


ib. 


Amelius .... 


Tuscany . . 


260 


Pantoenus .... 


Alexandria 


ib. 


Porphyry .... 


Tyre 


280 


Tertullian .... 


Carthage . 


196 


Jamblichus . . 


Chalcis 


340 


Clemens .... 


Alexandria 


. 200 


iEdisius .... 


Cappadocia 


— 


Origen 


Ibid 


230 


Eustathius . . 





— 


Anatolius .... 


Ibid 


270 


Eusebius . . MyndusinCaria 327 


Arnobius .... 


Africa . . . 


285 


Maximus .... 


Nicomedia . 


— 


Lactantius . . 





310 


Priscus 


Thespotium 


360 


Eusebius Pamph. Caesarea . . 


327 


Chrysanthius . 


Sardis 


— 


Apollinarius . . 


Laodicea . . 


370 


Julian 


Rom.Emp. 


360 


Gregory .... 


Nazianzen . . 


ib. 


Eunapius .... 


Sardis 


385 


Gregory .... 


Nyssa 


ib. 


Hierocles 


Alexandria 


400 


Didymus .... 


Alexandria 


. 380 


Plutarch (Nest.) 


Athens 


420 


Jerome ...... 


Bethlehem . 


'400 


Syrian 


Alexandria 


450 


Chrysostom . . 


Antioch . . 


ib. 


Marinus .... 


Sichem 


460 


Augustine 


Hippo 


ib. 


Isidorus .... 


Gaza 


500 


Synesius .... 


Cyrene . . . 


410 


Damascius . . 


Syria 


— 


Dionysius .... 


— — 


420 









90 ANCIENT PHILOSOPHERS. £PART II. 

68. The preceding enumeration of the principal 
sects of Grecian, Roman, and Alexandrian philoso- 
phers, both scientific and speculative, may, it is 
presumed, be useful to the juvenile reader of the 
followng essays, by enabling him, as he proceeds, to 
determine the school of philosophy to which each of 
those individuals belonged, who will be more dis- 
tinctly noticed hereafter; and by exhibiting, at one 
view, the ramifications of ancient philosophy, from 
when the scion was first transplanted from the East, 
to the period in which its sapless trunk mouldered 
into decay in its native soil. It would extend this 
historical review of ancient literature far beyond 
its assigned limits, and render the work extremely 
dry and uninteresting, were but a brief summary 
given of the distinguishing tenets of each sect, or 
of the systems advocated by the most celebrated of 
these ancient philosophers. Instead of this, the 
retrospect will be pursued in the following order. 

I. The history of the abstract sciences, or ancient 
mathematics. 

II. The history of physical science, both specu- 
lative and practical. 

III. Ancient dialectics, or logic. 

IV. Metaphysics, or pneumatology; and, 

V. Ethics, or moral science. 



CHAP. Ill/] ANCIENT MATHEMATICIANS. 91 

CHAPTER III. 

THE ABSTRACT SCIENCES. 



Sect. I. 

HISTORY OF MATHEMATICS, 
From A.C. 640—300. 

69. Geometry is the only branch of mathema- 
tical science with which the ancients were acquainted, 
if we except a slight and imperfect knowledge of 
arithmetic, said to have been derived from the Phoe- 
nicians. It will be remembered, that, in the sketch 
of Egyptian literature, attempted in a former 
section, a reference was made to the origin of 
geometry in that country, and the circumstances 
were mentioned which first led to the study and 
practice of this important science. In its beginning 
it was considered but as a more convenient and 
accurate mode of mensuration than any previously 
known. Its practical utility therefore recommended 
it to the Egyptians, since it enabled them, with 
the utmost accuracy, to determine the rights of 
landed proprietors, after the annual inundation of 
the Nile had obliterated all traces of former occu- 
pation. Thence it was transferred to Greece, where 
it early assumed the form of an abstract science, 
and was cultivated far more successfully than in its 
native soil. Thales and Pythagoras, the celebrated 



92 ANCIENT MATHEMATICIANS. [jPART II. 

founders of the two principal sects of philosophy, 
are universally acknowledged to have been the first 
Grecian geometricians; but the degree of their 
mathematical knowledge, or the exact amount of 
their attainments in this department of science, it 
is by no means easy to determine. It is probable 
that many of the propositions found in the ele- 
mentary works of later geometricians were first 
discovered by them, though others, by whom they 
have been preserved and transmitted to posterity, 
may have obtained the credit of their invention. 

70. Thales, who flourished between a. c. 640 and 
600, during his residence in Egypt, either taught 
the Egyptians, or, as is more probable, learned 
from them, the method of measuring the Pyramids 
of Memphis by the extent of their shadows. In 
either case, the fact proves some practical acquain- 
tance with geometry. Several of the fundamental 
propositions subsequently incorporated into the 
Elements of Euclid have been attributed to him, 
particularly those in which it is proved that a 
" circle is bisected by its diameter ; that the angles 
at the base of an isosceles triangle are equal; that 
vertical angles are equal; and that the angle in a 
semicircle is a right angle." These, though amongst 
the simplest theorems, were no inconsiderable dis- 
coveries in the infancy of mathematical science. 
All the ancient writers speak of him as a learned 
geometrician, and, among other important disco- 
veries, ascribe to him the first employment of a 
circle for the measurement of angles. 

Pythagoras, who flourished about half a century 



CHAP. III.] ANCIENT MATHEMATICIANS. 93 

later, pushed forward the discoveries of Thales, 
and made more important discoveries. His name 
is rendered immortal among geometricians, by his 
well-known discovery, " that the square on the 
hypothenuse of a right-angled triangle is equal to 
the sum of the squares on the other two sides;" a 
discovery which is said to have occasioned such an 
ecstacy of joy, as to induce him to offer, as an 
expression of gratitude, an hecatomb to the gods. 
This problem is classed among the most important 
of geometrical truths, both from the singularity of 
its result, and the number of cases to which it may 
be applied in every department of mathematical 
science. To this philosopher belongs also the praise 
of having reduced geometry to a more regular 
system, by his demonstrations and inductive rea- 
sonings. Diogenes Laertius informs us, that it was 
he " who first abstracted geometry from matter, and 
elevated it from a scheme of mensuration to a truly 
philosophical science." 

71. Next to the above-mentioned philosophers, 
the names of (Enopidas, Zenodorus, Democritus, 
and Hippocrates, occur in the list of ancient mathe- 
maticians. The former of these was a native of 
Chios, who flourished about a.c. 450, and of whom 
Plato speaks, as u one who obtained mathematical 
glory," though it is to be regretted that no traces 
of his works remain. Among the simple but im- 
portant problems attributed to him, are those by 
which a perpendicular is let fall on a right line 
from a given point ; an angle made equal to a given 
angle ; and by which it is bisected. Of Zenodorus, 



94 ANCIENT MATHEMATICIANS. [PART II. 

who was a contemporary of GEnopidus, more 
authentic information is possessed, since a portion 
of his geometrical writings has survived the wreck 
of ages, and is still preserved in Theon's Commen- 
tary. From these ancient remains, it may be 
gathered, that at the period in which this geome- 
trician flourished, no inconsiderable progress had 
been made in that science. Among the services 
rendered by him to the abstract sciences, it was not 
the least that he corrected some false notions which 
had been previously entertained relative to com- 
parative magnitudes, by proving that figures with 
equal circumferences have not necessarily equal 
areas. But of the philosophers enumerated above, 
Hippocrates, who was also a native of Chios, and 
flourished about the same period, was by far the 
most distinguished. He is highly commended by 
Proclus as one who contributed greatly to the 
advancement of mathematical knowledge, and as 
having first compiled Elements of Geometry. About 
the period in which he flourished, the famous pro- 
blem relative to the duplication of the cube engaged 
the attention of the geometricians, in consequence, 
it is said, of a response given by the Delphian 
Oracle, which, when it was inquired by the Athe- 
nians, how a dreadful pestilence, then raging at 
Athens, might be removed, replied, " Double tJie 
altar." That altar being a perfect cube, it was 
proposed to the mathematicians of Creece to ascer- 
tain what was the precise quantity required. Hip- 
pocrates distinguished himself in this research, and 
seemed to have made some advances towards the 



CHAP. III.] ANCIENT MATHEMATICIANS. 95 

solution of the problem; but geometrical knowledge 
was not then sufficiently advanced to enable him 
to surmount the difficulty, though he discovered 
some principles intimately connected with its solu- 
tion, some of which still continue to bear his name. 

72. The Platonic school, stimulated by the ex- 
ample, and aided by the discoveries of those who had 
preceded them in this department of science, greatly 
enlarged its boundaries. To Plato himself, or to 
some of his distinguished disciples, have been attri- 
buted the important discoveries by which an ap- 
proximation may be made to the quadrature of the 
circle, the duplication of the cube, the trisection of 
angles, and (which is by far the most important of 
all) the method of geometrical analysis. A cele- 
brated mathematician of modern times, whose com- 
petence to decide on the question, none, who are 
acquainted with his writings, can doubt, has given it 
as his opinion, that a the method of geometrical 
analysis constitutes the most valuable part of the 
ancient mathematics, inasmuch as a method of dis- 
covering truth is more valuable than the truths it 
has already discovered ; and in another place, the 
same writer remarks, " the geometrical analysis, 
which is generally ascribed to the Platonic school, is 
one of the most beautiful and ingenious contrivances 
in the mathematics. It is a method of discovering 
truth, by reasoning concerning things unknown, or 
propositions merely supposed, as if the one were 
given and the other were really true. A quantity 
that is unknown, is only to be found by its relations 
to quantities that are known. By reasoning on 



96 ANCIENT MATHEMATICIANS. [PART II. 

these relations, we come at last to one so simple, 
that the thing sought is thereby determined. By 
this analytical process, therefore, the thing required 
is discovered, and we are at the same time put in 
possession of an instrument by which new truths 
may be found out ; and which, when skill in 
using it has been acquired by practice, may be 
applied to an unlimited extent."* To Plato is 
also attributed the first invention of the four conic 
sections ; previously no other species of curve had 
employed the speculations of men of science than 
the circle. This new and interesting branch of 
geometry, was diligently cultivated by his disciples, 
of whom Proclus enumerates twelve, who acquired 
considerable distinction, in an age in which know- 
ledge was rapidly advancing. Among these were, 
Leodamns, who improved on the method of analysis ; 
Thoeetetus, who wrote Elements of Geometry ; 
Archiates, who has the credit of having first applied 
the principles of geometry to practical purposes ; 
Aristeus, who composed five books on the conic 
sections, highly applauded by the ancients, but 
which have not reached us ; Eudoxus and Mc- 
nechmus, who followed up, and more clearly demon- 
strated, the problem of doubling the cube, the 
properties of the conic sections, and many other 
propositions connected with what are termed pure 
mathematics. 

73. Though Aristotle, the celebrated founder 
of the Peripatetic sect, does not chiefly owe his 

* Playfair's Dissert, ap. Encyc. Britt. New Supp. Vol. II. p. 3. 



CHAP. III.] ANCIENT MATHEMATICIANS. 97 

reputation to his knowledge of geometry, it is well 
known that no inconsiderable part of his voluminous 
writings relate to the abstract sciences. Blancanus, 
a learned commentator in Aristotle's works, collected 
an entire book of geometrical propositions, said to 
have been invented by this philosopher. Of his 
school, those who are known to have excelled in 
mathematics were, Eudemus, who wrote treatises on 
numbers, geometry and invisible lines ; Theophras- 
tus, who drew up a history of mathematics, part of 
which is still extant ; Isidorus, Hy sides, and a few 
others, who chiefly directed their attention to the 
doctrine of solids, and thus opened a new field in 
geometrical science. 



Section II. 



HISTORY OF MATHEMATICS CONTINUED, 

From A. c. 300 to A. D. 400. 

74. The muse of Poetry had attained her loftiest 
flights ; Philosophy, her most refined speculations, 
and the Fine Arts their utmost perfection in Greece, 
long before the mathematical sciences had reached 
the meridian of their course. It was at a compara- 
tively late period of Grecian history, that the most 
celebrated of her geometricians flourished. A firm 
and deep foundation had been laid, it is true, by 
Thales, Pythagoras, and Plato, and the superstruc- 
ture was partly reared by the disciples of their 
several schools ; but it was not till about the sera of 

H 



98 ANCIENT MATHEMATICIANS. [PART II. 

Alexander of Macedon, that the fabric of geometrical 
science was completed by the united labours of 
Euclid, Archimedes, and Apollonius, — names which 
unquestionably occupy the first place in the cata- 
logue of ancient mathematicians. It is now impos- 
sible to ascertain what portion of the works of 
Euclid is original, or what was compiled from the 
writings of his predecessors. Posterity may there- 
fore have awarded to him a meed of mathematical 
fame far beyond his just deserts. But, from what- 
ever source his materials may have been derived, it 
is universally admitted, that the period in which the 
three abovementioned mathematicians flourished, is 
that in which geometry attained its maximum among 
the ancients, and from which it evidently began 
to decline. 

75. Euclid, the well-known author of the Ele- 
ments of Geometry (who must be distinguished from 
the founder of the Megaric sect,) was of the Platonic 
school, and flourished about a. c. 300. The time 
and place of his birth are unknown ; but it appears, 
from the Commentaries of Proclus, that he taught 
mathematics, and founded a geometrical school at 
Alexandria during the reign of the first Ptolemy, 
(or, as others affirm, of Ptolemy Philadelphus.) 
This is inferred from the well-known reply he is said 
to have given to that monarch, who enquired whe- 
ther he could not teach him geometry by a simpler 
and easier process. " There is," said Euclid, " no 
royal road to geometry." This fact, attested both 
by Archimedes and Proclus, furnishes almost the 
only data from which to determine either the place 



CHAP. III.] ANCIENT MATHEMATICIANS. 99 

of his residence, or the aera in which he flourished. 
His chief merit seems to have consisted in reducing 
to order the scattered parts of the system of ancient 
mathematics, and in presenting the fundamental 
principles established by former geometricians in 
their natural order, adding to them others invented 
by himself. Professor Playfair, when adverting to 
the progress made by the Greeks in geometrical 
science, bears the following honourable testimony to 
the " author of the Elements." u The elementary 
truths were connected by Euclid, into one great 
chain, beginning from the axioms and extending to 
the five regular solids, the whole digested into such 
admirable order, and explained with such clearness 
and precision, that no similar work of superior ex- 
cellence has appeared, even in the present advanced 
state of mathematical science." — Playf air's Dissert- 
up. Encijc. Brit, New Sup. Vol. II. p. 3. 

" No book of science," says a modern French writer, 
" has ever met with success equal to that of Euclid's 
Elements. They have continued to be taught ex- 
clusively in every mathematical school for many 
centuries ; have been translated into almost all 
languages, and have been commented upon by 
numerous celebrated geometricians — a sure proof of 
their transcendent excellence." — (Bossufs History 
of Mathematics.) Besides this, his principal work, 
Euclid wrote several other mathematical treatises, 
some of which are still extant, though others, men- 
tioned by Proclus, are lost. 

76. Next in chronological order, but far superior 
in genius and science, stands the celebrated, the 

h2 



100 ANCIENT MATHEMATICIANS. [PART II. 

unrivalled Archimedes. The scientific discoveries 
of this great philosopher will more properly claim 
our attention, when reviewing the history of Physics, 
or Natural Philosophy, among the Greeks. At 
present we shall only advert to him, as unquestion- 
ably the first of ancient mathematicians. He 
flourished at Syracuse about a. c. 250, and spent his 
whole life in the most unwearied and successful 
endeavours to promote the advancement of the 
sciences, both abstract and practical. " He assailed," 
says Playfair, " the most difficult problems in geo- 
metry, and by means of the method of exhaustion* 
demonstrated many curious and important theorems 
with regard to the lengths and areas of curves, and 
the contents of solids." He was the first who dis- 
covered the relation between the circumference of 
a circle to its diameter, not indeed with geome- 
trical strictness, (for this is found to baffle even 
modern science,) but by a method of approximation 
admirable in its kind, and which has served as a 

* This name was given by the ancients to that process of 
indirect demonstration, by which a great variety of difficult 
questions were solved relative to the limitation of figures in- 
scribed on curves, or circumscribed round them, and the propor- 
tion of those limits to the areas of the curves with which they 
are connected. Professor Playfair, after having given a succinct 
but beautiful explanation of this branch of mathematics, adds, 
" Few things more ingenious than this method have been de- 
vised ; and nothing could be more conclusive than the demon- 
strations resulting from it; but it laboured under two very 
considerable defects ; viz. the long and difficult process by 
which those demonstrations were obtained, and its indirect form 
giving no insight into the principle on which the investigation 
was founded." — Playf. Diss, ut sup. pp. 6, 7. 



CHAP. III.]] ANCIENT MATHEMATICIANS. 101 

model for all subsequent investigations of a similar 
kind. His most celebrated work, (which fully 
proves the transcendent superiority of his genius 
to the proudest attainments of ordinary men, and 
renders him not unworthy of being placed by the 
side of the illustrious Newton,) is that on the dimen- 
sions and quadrature of the circle : besides which, 
he wrote (on mathematical subjects) treatises on the 
sphere and cylinder, — on spheroids and conoids, — 
of spiral lines, — of the quadrature of the para- 
bola, &c. &c, irrespective of his works on natural 
philosophy, to be noticed hereafter. To the pre- 
ceding summary of the geometrical labours of 
Archimedes, it may be added, that he extended and 
more clearly demonstrated the use of geometrical 
analysis, the principles of which were first discovered 
by the disciples of Plato. Eratosthenes and Conon 
were his contemporaries, either of whom would 
have acquired, in any other age, great celebrity in 
this department of science, but their fame was com- 
pletely eclipsed by the dazzling lustre of the great 
philosopher of Syracuse. Archimedes requested, in 
his last moments, that a sphere inscribed in a 
cylinder might be engraved on his tomb, to perpe- 
tuate the memory of what he deemed his most 
glorious discovery. This was done, but the Sicilians 
so little honoured his memory, that the place of his 
sepulture was lost, till discovered by Cicero, when 
Quaestor of Sicily, by these symbols and a Greek 
inscription at their base, nearly two hundred years 
after his death. 

77. Apollonius, a native of Perga, next occurs, 



102 ANCIENT MATHEMATICIANS. [PART II. 

after an interval of about 50 years (a. c. 200,) in 
the series of ancient geometricians. As he is known 
to have studied and taught mathematics at Alex- 
andria, it is not improbable that he continued the 
school founded in that city by Euclid. His contem- 
poraries styled him, and not without reason, the 
Great Geometrician, an appellation confirmed by 
the suffrages of posterity, who place him next to 
Archimedes in mathematical attainments. He is 
known to have composed a great number of works 
on the higher branches of geometry, all of which 
have perished, except a few fragments and a Trea- 
tise, nearly entire, on the Conic Sections, This 
celebrated treatise was divided into eight books, 
the first four of which are still extant in Greek ; 
the three next were only known by means of an 
Arabic translation and Latin version, effected during 
the middle ages, until translated into English by 
Dr. Halley, the astronomer, towards the beginning 
of the eighteenth century; and the eighth is entirely 
lost. On this work, Playfair remarks, that " his 
elaborate and profound researches on that species 
of curves, which, after the circle, are the most sim- 
ple and important in geometry, laid the foundation 
of discoveries which were to illustrate very distant 
ages." Numerous have been the commentators on 
this celebrated work, both ancient and modern, of 
which the principal are, Eutocius of Ascalon, Pappus, 
and Commandine. Apollonius is believed by many 
to have been the author of those propositions con- 
tained in some editions of Euclid's Elements, and 
enumerated as the fourteenth and fifteenth books. 



CHAP. III.] ANCIENT MATHEMATICIANS. 103 

The age of Archimedes and Apollonius constituted 
the most brilliant sera in the history of ancient 
mathematics. After these great men disappeared, 
we meet with no geometricians of the first order, 
and scarcely any that can be considered even 
second-rate mathematicians. A few, however, may 
be cursorily mentioned as having contributed in 
some degree, if not to the advancement, yet at least 
to the preservation of geometrical science, though 
it will be seen that they appeared but at distant 
intervals. 

78. Theodosius, who flourished about a. c. 60, is 
known as the author of a Treatise on Spherics, which 
may be considered as having prepared the way for 
the discovery of spherical trigonometry ; none of 
the former geometricians having proceeded beyond 
plane trigonometry, or the measurement of heights 
and distances, by the sides and angles of a triangle. 
The Demonstrations of Theodosius are said to have 
been expressed with the utmost accuracy and 
elegance. Menelaus, who flourished about a. d. 55, 
pursued the same track, and, following up the prin- 
ciples of his predecessor, made considerable progress 
in spherical trigonometry. His work on Spherical 
Triangles is said to have been a laborious and 
learned performance, which contributed to the ad- 
vancement of astronomical science. After a long 
interval of more than 300 years, we arrive at the 
aera of Pappus and Diodes, both of whom flourished 
about a. d. 385. Pappus is chiefly known as an 
industrious and valuable commentator on the works 
of those who had preceded him. " The mathema- 



104 ANCIENT MATHEMATICIANS. [PART II. 

tical collections of Pappus/ says M. Bossut, in his 
History of Mathematics, " exhibit one of the most 
valuable monuments of ancient geometry. In them, 
the author has assembled together a great number 
of excellent works, almost all of which are now lost; 
and to these he has added several new, curious, and 
learned propositions of his own invention. This 
collection, therefore, is not to be considered merely 
as a compilation, (though, in this respect, it is va- 
luable,) since it gives us almost a complete view of 
the state of ancient mathematical science." Diodes, 
his contemporary, discovered a more original genius, 
if the statement be correct, that he succeeded in 
the solution of a problem suggested by Archimedes, 
in his Treatise on the Sphere and Cylinder, but left 
unanswered ; a solution which is said to have been 
" most learned and profound." Serenus flourished 
about the same time, whose two books on the 
" Cylinder and Cone," Dr. H alley appended to his 
edition of the Conic Sections of Apollonius, and 
which are highly commended by that distinguished 
mathematician. The review of this period of the 
History of Geometry shall close with Proclus, who 
revived the Platonic school at Athens about a. d. 500 ; 
who rendered important service to the abstract 
sciences, not only by the effort he made to rekindle 
the languid and dying embers of philosophy, when 
almost extinguished in Greece, but still more by his 
valuable Commentary on the First Book of Euclid's 
Elements, from which the greater part of the pre- 
ceding outline has been derived, and which will well 
repay the labour of a diligent perusal. 



CHAP. IV. ^ HISTORY OF ASTRONOMY. 105 



CHAPTER IV. 

ANCIENT PHYSICS. 



Sect. I. 

ON THE ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF ASTRONOMICAL 

SCIENCE IN GREECE, 

From A.c. 640— 300. 

79. The precise period in which astronomy was 
first introduced into Greece, cannot be fixed with 
any degree of certainty. Sir Isaac Newton traces 
it back to the Argonautic expedition, when he con- 
ceives the first rude sketch was made of the celestial 
globe, and some of the most remarkable luminaries 
were grouped together in constellations. Whether 
this opinion be well-founded or not, (and Newton 
was not given to theorize or take up opinions 
hastily,) it is certain that this sublime science had 
not approached towards a system, nor had any im- 
portant discoveries been made, till Thales flourished, 
who may therefore be not improperly designated 
the father of Grecian astronomy. The knowledge 
which Thales had acquired in Chaldaea and Egypt, 
he extended by diligent study and attentive ob- 
servation of the face of the heavens; and an impulse 
was given, by his instructions and example, to this 
science, the effects of which were apparent many 
ages after his death. Among the astronomical at- 
tainments of this philosopher, the following appear 



106 ANCIENT ASTRONOMERS. [PART II. 

to have been the principal. (1.) He ascertained and 
explained to his disciples the cause of the inequality 
of day and night — divided the earth into five zones 
by means of the polar and tropical circles — taught 
the obliquity of the ecliptic — and shewed that all the 
meridians which intersect each other at the poles, 
cut the equator at right angles. (2.) He is said to 
have observed the exact time of the solstices, and 
thus determined the length of the solar year, though 
not with scientific accuracy, yet so as to correct 
some prevailing errors in the calculation of time. 
(3.) He is said to have improved upon the Egyptian 
arrangement of the constellations, especially those 
which form the zodiac, combining a lively imagina- 
tion with the love of science. Thales or some of 
his disciples embodied the stars in fabulous emblems, 
affixed to them names, borrowed from the popular 
mythology, and by this expedient rendered a sub- 
ject, in itself dry and uninteresting, attractive even 
to the vulgar. The division of the zodiac into 
twelve constellations, which, if not invented, was 
completed by Thales or his immediate successor, 
has since obtained throughout Europe, and is still 
the only arrangement known to astronomers. 
(4.) Four of the planets were known to Thales, as 
they had been to the Egyptians, viz. Jupiter, Saturn, 
Mars, and Venus ; and to these some have added 
Mercury, as first observed by astronomers of the 
Ionic school, though no accurate observations could 
have been made on their phenomena, at that remote 
period. (5.) But the astronomical fame of Thales 
was chiefly founded on his knowledge of the theory 



CHAP. IV J ANCIENT ASTRONOMERS. 107 

of eclipses, which had been for many ages the terror 
of the common people, and one of which (that 
happened during the war between the Medes and 
Lydians) he predicted some years before it occurred. 
This was of itself sufficient to render the philosopher 
of Miletus celebrated throughout Greece, and at- 
tract to his school numerous disciples. Among these, 
Anaximander, who flourished a. c. 600, ranks 
highest, in connexion with astronomy, as well as in 
metaphysical speculations. He is said to have set 
up a gnomon at Sparta, by means of which, time 
was more accurately measured, and the solstitial 
and equinoctial points were determined with greater 
precision. To him is also attributed the first in- 
vention of celestial globes and geographical maps, 
to the construction of which he was led by his 
conjecture, that the earth is spherical — a conjecture 
afterwards verified and demonstrated by Pythagoras. 

80. While the philosophers of the Ionic sect were 
following up these investigations at Miletus, Pytha- 
goras and his disciples were assiduously employed 
in Italy in similar pursuits, and met with still 
greater success. Of the discoveries of Pythagoras 
In this department of science, the following is a brief 
outline : 

(1.) He proved, by physical observations combined 
with general reasonings, that the earth could not 
be, according to the popular belief, an extended 
plane, but must necessarily exhibit a curved and 
spheroidal superficies. 

(2.) His opinions respecting the nature of the 
celestial bodies seem to have been, that the sun is an 



108 ANCIENT ASTRONOMERS. [PART II. 

immense mass of fiery matter : that the moon is 
opaque, reflecting only the rays of the sun, and in- 
habited like our earth : that the galaxy consists of a 
great number of little stars of peculiar brightness : 
and that comets, which had before been regarded 
with terror, as fiery meteors, portending dire ca- 
lamities, were a kind of wandering stars, disappear- 
ing in the remoter parts of their obits, and becoming 
visible as they approached the earth. 

(3.) He is said also to have first discovered, that 
the evening and morning stars, called by the Greeks 
Vesperus and Phosphorus, were in reality the same 
planet, seen in different parts of its orbit, on the 
eastern or western side of the sun. 

(4.) Perceiving the inaccuracy of former attempts 
to obtain a correct measurement of time, Pythagoras 
applied to this subject the whole force of his genius, 
and devised a method of reconciling, in some degree, 
lunar and solar time, by the expedient of intercalary 
days. 

(5.) But the most remarkable fact in the history of 
ancient astronomy is, that the true solar system was 
either discovered by or known to Pythagoras, many 
centuries before it was generally received, and, 
which is perhaps yet more surprising, that after 
having been known and taught, it was universally 
abandoned as hypothetical and visionary. From the 
imperfect astronomical observations he was able to 
make, in the infancy of the science, this philosopher 
was led to the conclusion, that the sun is the centre 
of the planetary system, and that the earth and 
other planets move round this immense luminary at 



CHAP. IV-3 ANCIENT ASTRONOMERS. 109 

regular distances, and in certain harmonic propor- 
tions. So contrary, however, was this doctrine to 
vulgar prejudices, that neither Pythagoras nor his 
disciples ventured to teach it openly. It was com- 
municated only to the initiated, and quickly for- 
gotten, or renounced by the philosophers of his sect. 
81. Cleostratus, an astronomer of the isle of 
Tenedos, and contemporary of Pythagoras, is chiefly 
known to posterit}^, by his attempts to correct the 
calendar, in which much ingenuity and no incon- 
siderable degree of science were discovered. About 
a century later, several astronomers directed their 
attention to the same difficult subject. These were 
Pliilolaus, a Pythagorean, who flourished A.c. 450, 
and is said to have openly asserted the then incre- 
dible fact, that the earth moves round the sun. 
Hicetas, a Syracusan, who taught the diurnal motion 
of the earth on its axis ; and especially Melon and 
Euctemon, both of whom flourished at Athens 
about A.c. 440, and the former of whom is distin- 
guished by the invention of the cycle of nineteen 
years, which still bears his name, being designated 
by chronologers, the Metonic cycle. Some defects 
having appeared after the lapse of a few years in the 
arrangement suggested by these Athenian astrono- 
mers, Calippus, another scientific Athenian, who 
flourished about a.c. 338, proposed a new cycle, 
which approached nearer to the correct division of 
time, though it was still far from being accurate. 
This was by connecting together four Metonic 
cycles, and forming them into one grand cycle of 
seventy-six years ; at the close of which, one of the 



110 ANCIENT ASTRONOMERS. £PART II. 

intercalary days was to be retrenched. This is known 
to chronologers by the name of the Calippic Period. 
82. Celebrated as is the Platonic school in the 
history of the Grecian philosophy, the science of 
astronomy was retarded, rather than advanced, by 
the speculations of Plato and his followers, as will 
appear from the following statement, made on no 
mean authority, and which it were easy to substan- 
tiate from the writings of the ancients. " The 
explanation of the celestial motions, which naturally 
occurred to those who began the study of the 
heavens, was, that the stars are so many luminous 
points fixed in the surface of a sphere, having the 
earth in its centre, and revolving on an axis passing 
through that centre in the space of twenty-four 
hours. When it was observed, that all the stars 
did not partake of this diurnal motion in the same 
degree, but that some were carried slowly towards 
the East, and that their paths estimated in that 
direction, after certain intervals of time, returned 
into themselves, it was believed that they were fixed 
in the surface of spheres, which revolved westward 
more slowly than the spheres of the fixed stars (as 
they are now called). These spheres must be 
transparent, or made of some crystalline substance ; 
and hence arose the name of the crystalline spheres, 
given to them by the ancients. This system, though 
it grew more complicated in proportion to the num- 
ber and variety of the phenomena observed, was the 
system of Aristotle and Eudoxus, and, with a few 
exceptions, of all the philosophers of antiquity." 
The name of Eudoxus has occurred in the precediug 



CHAP. IV.] ANCIENT ASTRONOMERS. Ill 

extract (in which the opinions both of the Platonists 
and Peripatetics are clearly stated on the subject to 
which it relates), concerning whom it will be suffi- 
cient to state, that he was a Platonic philosopher, 
who built an observatory at Cnidos, the place of his 
birth, and wrote several treatises on astronomy, which 
have long since perished. He is also said to have 
first connected together the kindred sciences of geo- 
metry and astronomy, and understood, practically at 
least, the art of dialling, having himself constructed 
a sun-dial, which protected the shadow on a plane. 
Ancient writers notice the sphere of Eudoxus ; but 
whether this was invented or only improved by 
this astronomer, is uncertain. 

83. A new and vigorous impulse was given to 
that part of astronomical science which relates to 
the measurement of the earth's circumference by the 
splendid conquests of Alexander of Macedon, a. c. 
330. The ambition of that monarch prompted him 
to aim at universal empire ; and that he might form 
a distinct conception of the work before him, and 
the extent of his anticipated dominions, he called in 
the aid of science, to ascertain the true magnitude 
of the earth. This object, it was perceived, could 
be effected most easily and accurately by astronomy ; 
that is, by attentively observing the position of the 
stars with relation to certain well-known terrestrial 
objects. The treatises of Aristotle, " De Ccelo," and 
" De Mundo," were partly written with this design ; 
and Callisthenes, who flourished at the same period, 
was expressly commanded by Alexander to execute 
this arduous task. According to the rude calcula- 



112 ANCIENT ASTRONOMERS. £PART II. 

tions then made, Aristotle informs us, that the 
mathematicians, who had attempted to determine 
the magnitude of the earth's circumference, had 
calculated the amount to be 400,000 stadia. The 
first, however, of the ancients, who attempted the 
measurement of the earth on scientific and mathe- 
matical principles, was Eratosthenes, the librarian 
of the splendid collection of books then recently- 
formed at Alexandria, and who flourished about 
a. c. 280.* To the same scientific philosopher is 
also attributed the invention and construction of an 
ingenious and useful instrument or machine, bear- 
ing some resemblance to the armillary sphere, which 
exhibited the relations of the meridian to the equa- 
torial and ecliptic lines, and thus indicated the 
solstitial and equinoctial colures. 



Sect. II. 

THE HISTORY OF ASTRONOMY CONTINUED, 

From a. c. 300 to A. d. 400. 

84. After the death of Alexander, and the con- 
sequent division of the Macedonian empire, the 
men of science principally resided at Alexandria in 
Egypt, attracted thither by the splendid patronage 

* A particular account of the method pursued by this mathe- 
matician and astronomer for the attainment of his object, and its 
results, is given by Cleomedes in his Cyclical Theorems, and 
will be found in a perspicuous abridged form, in Bossut's History 
of Mathematics, p. 108 — 111. 



CHAP. IV.3 ANGIENT ASTRONOMERS. 113 

of Ptolemy Philadelphia, and the facilities afforded 
by the munificence of that monarch to the culti- 
vation of knowledge. Timocharis and Aristillus, 
who flourished at Alexandria between a. c. 290 and 
270, conferred important benefits on the science of 
astronomy, by making an immense number of obser- 
vations on the relative positions of the stars, and on 
the motions of the planets; noting down, with the 
utmost exactness, the time when those phenomena 
appeared which attracted their notice. These obser- 
vations were extremely useful to their successors, 
and formed, after the lapse of many ages, a basis 
for the more extended observations of Ptolemy. 
About the same time, an attempt was made to 
connect this science with literature and taste, by 
Aratus, who flourished under Antiochus, and who, 
at the request of that prince, reduced the principles 
of astronomy, as far as they were then known, to 
verse, in a poem entitled Phenomena, which was 
translated into Latin both by Cicero and Germa- 
nicus. But these attempts to advance astronomical 
science bear no comparison, in magnitude and im- 
portance, to the successful researches of Aristarchus 
and Hipparchus; names which unquestionably rank 
highest in the history of ancient astronomy. 

85. Aristarchus was a native of Samos, who 
flourished about a.c. 280. To this astronomer, 
posterity is indebted for several useful discoveries, 
and many highly important observations. Of these, 
the following is a brief summary : 

(1.) He invented a simple, but scientific method of 
computing the distance of the sun and moon from 

i 



114 ANCIENT ASTRONOMERS. [PART II. 

the earth. His calculations, it is true, were wide 
of the truth, nor could they have been otherwise 
with the means of knowledge then possessed; but 
the attempt itself does honour to the memory of 
this celebrated astronomer, and still more the sys- 
tematic manner in which that attempt was made on 
the principles of plane trigonometry. 

(2.) Among other astronomical observations care- 
fully noted by Aristarchus, one was a solstice, which 
happened, according to Ptolemy's calculations, a.c. 
281, and by which we are enabled to determine the 
precise period in which this astronomer flourished. 

(3.) To him, in conjunction with Eratosthenes, his 
companion and fellow-labourer, is ascribed the first 
successful application of mechanical science to the 
advancement of astronomy, by the construction of 
some rude but useful instruments, which Ptolemy 
has minutely described. 

(4.) But a still higher honour is reflected on the 
name and memory of Aristarchus, by the well- 
attested fact, that he not only knew, but maintained 
and taught, the true solar system; knowledge which 
he had probably derived from the Pythagorean 
school, but which neither the founder of that sect, 
nor his disciples, had the courage openly to assert. 
From the age of Aristarchus to that of Copernicus, 
including a series of more than eighteen centuries, 
this important truth lay concealed beneath a cum- 
brous mass of prejudice and superstition. 

86. Hipparchus (who occupies nearly the same 
place among astronomers, as Archimedes among the 
geometricians and natural philosophers of antiquity) 



CHAP. IV.3 ANCIENT ASTRONOMERS. 115 

was a native of Nice, in Bithynia, and flourished 
about a.c. 142. He commenced his observations at 
Rhodes, but afterwards pursued them, with much 
greater advantage and success, at Alexandria. 
With unwearied industry, he continued to prose- 
cute those labours, which not only reared a peren- 
nial monument to his own fame, but established 
his favourite science on a firm and permanent basis, 
which will probably endure to the end of time. 
As in the instances of those who preceded him, the 
most valuable results of these labours will be enu- 
merated under distinct heads. 

(1.) His first object was to correct the errors of 
former astronomers, with reference to the mea- 
surement of time, and determine the exact length 
of the solar year. Before his time, the year was 
made to consist of 365 days and six hours; this he 
found to exceed the true time, and, therefore, 
deducted seven minutes, which, though not per- 
fectly accurate, was considerably nearer the truth. 

(2.) Immense labour was bestowed by Hippar- 
chus in the construction of astronomical tables ', which 
explained the inequalities, or, as it was then termed, 
the eccentricity of the solar and lunar orbits, and 
determined their motions. With the modesty of 
a true philosopher, these calculations were an- 
nounced as imperfect attempts, and a confident 
expectation expressed that, as science advanced, 
these problems would be more accurately solved. 

(3.) A yet more important discovery (and one 
which proves the progress then made in astrono- 
mical science) is universally ascribed to Hipparchus ; 

12 



116 ANCIENT ASTRONOMERS. [PART II. 

namely, that of the precession of the equinoxes, or 
that retrogression which is observed in the equi- 
noctial and solstitial points, with relation to the 
zodiac, or the fixed stars, and which is found, by 
the more accurate observations of modern science, 
to amount to fifty seconds in a year. This phe- 
nomenon, though imperfectly understood at the 
time of its discovery, has become of great importance 
in practical astronomy. 

(4.) It is further attributed to Hipparchus, that 
he followed up successfully the design of Aristar- 
chus, who had attempted to determine the ratio of 
the distances of the sun and moon from the earth, 
and that for his success he was chiefly indebted to 
the method he adopted of measuring by parallaxes, 
or the angle made by right lines from any star, or 
other celestial object, to the surface, and to the 
centre of the earth. His conclusions, it is true, 
were erroneous, but the method devised by him is 
still found eminently useful. 

(5.) But the fame of Hipparchus, as an astro- 
nomer, chiefly rests on his attempt to number the 
stars, and assign to them appropriate names and 
relative positions. He was induced to undertake 
this herculean task, by the sudden disappearance 
of a new star, which had before attracted his notice. 
This remarkable phenomenon naturally prompted 
the desire to note down all the stars then visible, 
that posterity might know whether they were per- 
manent bodies, or whether subject to changes. 
The execution of this bold attempt filled his con- 
temporaries, and the men of science who succeeded 



CHAP. IV-3 ANCIENT ASTRONOMERS. 117 

him, with the utmost astonishment. " Hipparchus," 
says Pliny, in his Natural History, u has never been 
sufficiently admired, for no one has given proofs 
like him that man is allied to heaven, and his mind 
a portion of the Deity. He has even braved the 
anger of the gods, by making known to man the 
number of the stars, and has left the heavens, as an 
inheritance to those who may in future ages have 
sufficient skill to take possession of it." 

87. After Hipparchus, no astronomer of high re- 
putation and inventive genius appeared for several 
centuries. There were indeed not a few who 
profited by his indefatigable labours and science, 
so as to carry on his observations, and enrich the 
science with additional facts, or who more fully 
developed the theories which had been previously 
established. Among these, the following may claim 
a distinct notice : — 

Posidonius, who flourished at Rhodes, about A. c. 
60, and has been honoured with the appellation of 
Geometer, on account of his laborious attempt to 
measure the circumference of the globe. Cicero 
bears a high testimony to this astronomer, in his 
philosophical works, and especially adverts in terms 
of high commendation to his invention of a moveable 
sphere, the properties and construction of which are 
not known to posterity. 

Cleomedes, who flourished about the commencement 
of the Christian i£ra, and rendered an important 
service to astronomy, by embodying in a work, en- 
titled " The Cyclical Theory of Meteors," all the 
discoveries of those who had preceded him in this 



118 ANCIENT ASTRONOMERS. [PART II. 

department of science, from the sera of Thales to his 
own time. In this ancient treatise on astronomy, 
(the most ancient now extant,) most of the facts are 
contained, which have been stated in this and the 
preceding section, relative to the history of astronomy 
in Greece. 

About the same time Geminus flourished, who 
is chiefly known as the author of " Elements of 
Astronomy," which contains not only the review of 
astronomical science among the Greeks, but carries 
the subject farther back, and treats of the astronomy 
of the Chaldaeans and Egyptians in very remote 
ages. 

The aera of Julius Caesar is memorable as that of 
the reformation of the calendar on astronomical 
principles. It falls not within the design of this 
work to explain the nature of that reformation, nor 
is it now known by whose labours it was effected. 
Some writers have conjectured that it was chiefly, 
if not wholly, accomplished by Sosigenes, an astro- 
nomer whom Julius Caesar brought from Athens to 
Rome. 

Manilius wrote, during the reign of Augustus, a 
Latin poem, entitled Astronomicon— on the plan of 
the Phenomenon of Aratus. It is to be regretted 
that the science it contains, and the beautiful moral 
sentiments with which its pages are adorned, should 
be degraded by being found in connexion with all 
the mummeries and reveries of the Chaldaean astro- 
logers. To add but one other to this list of second 
or third-rate astronomers, Menelaus (who has already 
been classed with the ancient geometricians, and who 



CHAP. IV/] ANCIENT ASTRONOMERS. 119 

flourished about A. d. 50) contributed, in some de- 
gree, to the advancement of astronomy, by applying 
the principles of spherical trigonometry to determine 
the motions and distances of the heavenly bodies. 

88. A considerable interval elapsed before another 
astronomer of eminence appeared in any part of the 
civilized world. During the Imperial government 
of Rome, poetry, sculpture, painting, oratory — all 
the ornamental arts and sciences, were cultivated, 
and attained a high degree of excellence ; but the 
abstract sciences, amidst the luxuries of that de- 
generate age, languished, and gradually fell into 
decay. Before, however, their complete dissolution 
and abandonment, an attempt was made to revive 
them in the Alexandrian school of philosophy, by 
the celebrated Ptolemy, whose name is identified 
with the whole system of ancient astronomy. It 
is not known whether Ptolemy was a native of 
Pelusium or of Alexandria, but he flourished during 
the reigns of Adrian and Antoninus, about a. d. 140. 
The celebrity of this astronomer is founded not so 
much on new and brilliant discoveries, (for in this 
respect he is far inferior to many who had preceded 
him,) as on his vast and almost incredible labours, 
his patience, perseverance, and unwearied industry 
in collecting and augmenting the stores of astrono- 
mical knowledge which had been accumulating in 
former ages. His principal work, entitled Almagest, 
(an Arabic word, denoting " the great Collection,") 
contains a digest of all the observations, discoveries, 
and opinions of former astronomers ; to which his 
own researches being added, (which were by no 



120 ANCIENT ASTRONOMERS. [PART II. 

means inconsiderable,) the whole forms the most 
complete system of ancient astronomy that has ever 
appeared. The well-known theory of this astronomer 
relative to the solar system was, that the earth is 
fixed immoveably in the centre of the system, and 
that all the celestial luminaries revolve round it in 
their respective orbits. All the explanations given 
by him of the motions of the planets rest on this 
hypothesis, to which his authority as the first of 
astronomers insured an universal reception, and 
which still continues to bear his name, being usually 
designated the Ptolemaic System. The greatest 
difficulty with which Ptolemy had to contend was, 
to reconcile actual phenomena, of which he could 
not be ignorant, with this hypothesis ; and for this 
purpose, he was under the necessity of framing 
theories and conjectures wholly unsubstantiated by 
evidence. 

89. To the discoveries already mentioned, which 
were more fully demonstrated by Ptolemy, may be 
added some, the merit of which is exclusively his 
own, particularly those which relate to the inequality 
in the motion of the moon, known to modern 
astronomers by the term evection; a phenomenon 
which he both demonstrated and explained.* Fol- 
lowing up the design of Hipparchus, he enlarged the 
catalogue of the fixed stars, and assigned distinct 
positions to no less than 1022 ; whilst he applied 
himself with no less diligence to the phenomena of 
the planets, calculating their distances, determining 

* See Playfair's Elements, Vol. II. pp. 129, 130. 



CHAP. IV.3 MECHANICS. 121 

their motions, and observing all their phsenomena, 
as far as they could be discovered, by the means 
of observation then possessed. After Ptolemy, no 
astronomer is known to have flourished during the 
period under review, who can claim distinct notice, 
if we except Theon, author of a scientific commen- 
tary on Potolemy's " Almagest," and his renowned 
but unfortunate daughter Hypatia, who, after having 
presided with distinguished reputation over the 
astronomical and mathematical school of Alexandria, 
fell a victim to intolerance and superstition, in the 
disguise and under the name of Christian zeal. 



Section III. 

ON THE ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF MECHANICAL SCIENCE. 

90. The practice of the mechanical arts was 
well understood by the ancients, long before the 
theory and general laws of that department of 
physical science were discovered. Necessity, the 
mother of inventions, prompted the Greeks at an 
early period of their history, as it had previously 
stimulated the Assyrians, Egyptians, and other 
oriental nations, to raise and transport large masses 
of matter and ponderous substances, by means not 
unlike those still in use : for without some such 
inventions, it would have been impossible to rear 
those massy fabrics, or to construct those splendid 
temples and forums, some of which are known to 



122 MECHANICS. [[PART |I. 

have been erected from remote antiquity, and even 
the ruins of which are so magnificent. But it was 
not till a period much later than the known date 
of their erection, that the mechanical forces were 
theoretically understood, and mathematical reason- 
ings employed to demonstrate their general principles 
and laws. Ctesiphon, for example, who is said to 
have built the celebrated temple of Diana at Ephesus, 
adopted the simplest and most strictly philosophical 
methods, by which to raise and fix the masses of 
stone employed in the construction of that far- 
famed edifice — in whicli were included the action of 
the lever and the inclined plane, and which implied 
a practical knowledge of the centre of gravity ; but 
neither he nor any of the Grecian architects who 
succeeded him, down to the age of Archimedes, 
knew the principles of mechanical science, and still 
less were they capable of reducing them to a system. 
Even Aristotle himself, (who flourished as late as 
a. c. 320,) had most confused notions relative to the 
equilibrium and motion of heavenly bodies ; and 
those who preceded him must necessarily have been 
still more destitute of science in these subjects. 

91. The true theory of mechanical philosophy 
dates no higher than the aera of Archimedes. He 
is the first of the ancient philosophers who wrote 
systematically and scientifically on the principles 
and laws of mechanics. In his treatise on " Equi- 
libria/ he distinctly lays down, as the data of his 
mathematical reasonings, the general principles 
which modern science has fully established, relative 
to the lever, the balance, and the centre of gravity, 



CHAP. IV.|] MECHANICS. 123 

confirming those principles by facts which he had pre- 
viously discovered by " a priori" reasonings. Thus 
was he led onward, by a yet untrodden track, to 
a great variety of important deductions, which were 
subsequently illustrated by experiment, and reduced 
to practice. How little progress had been pre- 
viously made in this department of science may be 
inferred, from the astonishment which Hiero, king 
of Syracuse, and his courtiers, are said to have 
expressed, when that philosopher said, " Give me 
but a place on which to stand, and I will move the 
globe." This proposition, daring as it may appear 
to persons ignorant of the fundamental principles of 
mechanics, is, however, but a simple consequence of 
the well-known laws of equilibria, and the action of 
the lever. By the combined influence of mathe- 
matical and practical science, Archimedes demon- 
strated, that there exists in every assemblage of 
small bodies, and in every large mass of matter con- 
sidered as such an assemblage, one general point of 
pressure, which moderns have termed the centre of 
gravity. Having established the fact, he proceeded 
to apply it to particular cases, and determined 
geometrically the precise situation of this centre 
of gravity in bodies of all shapes and dimensions, 
whether parallelograms, triangles, trapezia, or para- 
bolas. 

92. The mechanical inventions that are speci- 
fically attributed to this great mechanician are, the 
inclined plane, the pulley, and the screw : not, 
indeed, that no machines acting on these principles 
were ever before employed, but because he first 



124 MECHANICS. [[PART II- 

made known the theory, by which their powers and 
effects may be accurately determined. Combining 
these simple instruments in various forms, he pro- 
duced machines of prodigious force, but of which 
little is now known except their names. Some of 
the ancients refer to the following, among other 
proofs of his mechanical skill. (1.) His construction 
of an engine by which to drain marshes and stag- 
nant pools, or to empty the beds of rivers. (2.) Ano- 
ther machine, by which he launched Hiero's great 
ship. (3.) An engine, called trispaton, the nature 
and design of which is unknown, but to which 
Tzetzes refers, as a machine of immense power ; 
and a variety of military engines, described by 
Plutarch, Polybius, and others, as employed with 
great effect during the memorable siege of Syra- 
cuse. To these inventions, Archimedes was chiefly 
indebted for the high reputation he enjoyed during 
his life, rather than to the science in which they 
originated. Had he satisfied himself with reasoning 
only on general principles, on the laws of matter and 
motion, or on the powers and phenomena of the 
equilibrium, however accurate and scientific those 
reasonings might have been, he would probably 
have sunk into an unhonoured grave, and his name 
had long since perished. Yet Archimedes does not 
appear himself to have set any high degree of value 
on these far-famed mechanical inventions. They 
were but the amusement of his leisure hours ; in 
some instances, the mere sportings of his inventive 
genius. Plutarch, in his Life of Marcellus, informs 
us, that " Archimedes would not have carried so far 



CHAP. IV.^ MECHANICS. 125 

his practical experiments, or diverted his attention 
so much from the abstract speculations, in which 
he most delighted, but for the pressing solicitations 
of Hiero, his royal patron and friend." The same 
writer has also added, in a strain of high but 
merited eulogium, (which is particularly deserving of 
notice, inasmuch as it exhibitis a comparative view of 
the estimation in which the speculative and practical 
sciences were held by the ancients,) " Archimedes 
was possessed of such a depth of understanding, 
such an elevation of sentiment, and so copious a 
fund of mathematical knowledge, that, though by 
the invention of his machines, he gained the re- 
putation of a person endowed almost with divine 
knowledge ; yet he did not vouchsafe to leave any 
account of them in writing : for he considered all 
attention to mechanics, and every art which ministers 
merely to common uses, as mean and sordid, and 
placed his whole delight in those intellectual specu- 
lations, which have an intrinsic excellence, arising 
from truth and demonstration only." — Plut. in Vit. 
Marcell. 

93. The researches and discoveries of the philo- 
sopher of Syracuse were almost exclusively directed 
to that branch of mechanics to which the name of 
Statics has been given in modern times, and it must 
be admitted that in this he was eminently successful; 
but that elementary division of the science, which the 
moderns distinguish by the term Dynamics,* and 

* The term Dynamics has been, of late years, applied to that 
branch of physics which relates to the general laws of matter and 



126 MECHANICS. £PART II. 

which develops the theory and laws of motion in 
general, was in a great degree unknown to the 
ancients. The notions formed by the most cele- 
brated of the philosophers of antiquity on this 
subject, were extremely vague and confused. Aris- 
totle, for example, has defined motion thus ; — " the 
act of a being, in power as far as in power ;" words 
to which it is impossible that any distinct idea 
should ever have been annexed : and though some 
may have conceived more clearly of its nature, its 
properties and laws lay far beyond the boundaries of 
ancient science. A few simple truths appear, indeed, 
to have been discovered by them relative to uniform 
motion, as that " the greater the space through 
which a body passes in a given time, the greater 
must be its velocity — that the ratio of its velocity 
is expressed by the proportion between the spaces 
passed through to the measures of time, or, in other 
words, that the spaces passed through are as the 
product of the times by the velocities ; so that if the 
times be equal, the spaces are as the velocities, or 
the velocity equal, the spaces are as the times." 
But these almost self-evident truths can scarcely be 
dignified with the name of science ; dynamics, there- 
motion, or the doctrine of moving forces. Its proper business 
is to establish and demonstrate, by mathematical reasonings, the 
general principles applicable to all bodies in a state of motion, 
whether that motion be uniform, accelerated or retarded. Ab- 
stracting entirely from matter its accidental properties of figure, 
colour, hardness, &c, it contemplates alone the power, force, or 
action by which it is moved, the degree and direction of its 
motion, and all other phenomena resulting from its change of 
place. 



CHAP. IV.3 MECHANICS. 127 

fore, considered as a branch of mechanical science, 
must be reckoned among the results of modern 
science, though some of the general principles on 
which it is founded were manifestly known to 
Archimedes, and some other ancient philosophers. 

94. It might have been reasonably anticipated, 
that the brilliant discoveries and high reputation of 
Archimedes, would have given a new and vigorous 
impulse to the science in which he so greatly ex- 
celled; and that, after his death, many would have 
been found who, guided by the torch of his genius, 
and stimulated by his success, would have made new 
discoveries, and carried forward his magnificent 
designs. But this was far from being the case. 
The science of Statics may be truly said to have 
been stationary after his death, or rather to have 
retrograded during many ages. Some few there 
were, who followed in the train of their great mas- 
ter, and gathered up those fragments of science, 
which fell from his hands, or escaped his notice — but 
no advances were made. Among the later pro- 
ficients in mechanical science were Ctesibius and 
Hero, two scientific philosophers of the Alexan- 
drian school, (who will be mentioned in connexion 
with another department of Physics, and who are 
said first to have applied the term, " Mechanical 
Powers," specifically to the five simple machines, 
which still continue to bear that name) ; Anthemius 
of Tralles, and Pappus of Alexandria, each of whom 
successfully applied their extensive mathematical 
knowledge to the advancement of natural philo- 
sophy. 



128 PROGRESS OF HYDRODYNAMICS. (jPART II. 

Section IV. 

ON THE ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF HYDRODYNAMICS. 

95. Before we proceed to the statement of facts 
connected with the subject of this section, it may be 
proper to premise, that the division of natural phi- 
losophy which it is intended to embrace, has been 
designated by the moderns Hydrodynamics, because 
its object is to apply the principles of the science of 
dynamics to that fluid with which we are most 
familiar, and explain the phenomena of water, both 
in a state of rest and of motion. The former class 
of phenomena constitutes the science of Hydro- 
statics, and the latter of Hydraulics ; the two great 
branches into which the science of hydrodynamics 
has been divided. As some progress was made by 
the ancients in each of these departments of phy- 
sical science, it is intended to comprehend both in 
the present brief review. Solid bodies are more 
easily subjected to experiment and minute obser- 
vation than fluid ; and, consequently, it was much 
more practicable in ancient times, with the rude and 
imperfect instruments then possessed, to investigate 
the properties and laws of matter, in a state of 
solidity and cohesion, or as collected together in 
large masses ; yet it will appear, from the following 
statement, that the properties and action of fluid 
bodies were not wholly disregarded. 

96. The same great geometer and mechanician, 
who has been repeatedly mentioned in the preceding 



CHAP. IV.3 HYDRODYNAMICS. 129 

essays, as occupying the first place among the 
practical philosophers of antiquity, was the first 
who discovered the fundamental laws of hydro- 
statics. A treatise of Archimedes has reached us, 
not indeed in its original form, hut through the 
imperfect medium of an Arabic and Latin version, 
which treats of the moleculce, or minute particles of 
fluid substances, their density, their equal pressure 
in every direction, and the principles on which the 
equilibrium of solids floating on the surface of fluids 
is preserved. The theory which he endeavours to 
establish by general reasonings and mathematical 
science, has since been fully confirmed by experiment. 
Amidst his researches on this subject, " he disco- 
vered," says Playfair, " the law which determines 
the loss of weight sustained by a body on its im- 
mersion in any fluid." His demonstration of this 
law rests on a principle which he lays down as a 
postulatum ; viz. that in water, the parts which are 
less pressed are always ready to yield in any direc- 
tion to those that are more pressed ; and from this, 
by the application of mathematical reasoning, the 
whole theory of floating bodies is derived. The 
above is the same principle on which the modern 
writers on hydrostatics proceed ; they give it, how- 
ever, not as a postulatum, but as constituting the 
definition of a fluid. 

97. The most remarkable experiment in hydro- 
statics which ancient history records, is that by 
which Archimedes detected the alloy of silver in 
Hiero's golden crown. That prince, having sus- 
pected the honesty of the goldsmith employed to 

K 



130 HYDRODYNAMICS. [PART II. 

make him a new crown, applied to his scientific 
friend and subject to detect the fraud. Archimedes 
was at first unable to devise any means by which 
the desired problem might be solved ; but at length, 
we are told, that the true method occurred to him 
while sitting in a public bath, and that he was 
so delighted with the discovery as to run home 
through the streets of the city of Syracuse, naked 
as he was, and exclaiming as he went, in an ecstacy 
of joy, " / have found it, I have found it" The 
principle, to the discovery of which he was indebted 
for the solution of the royal problem, was the well- 
known theorem, " that two bodies, equal in bulk, 
and immersed in a fluid lighter than themselves, 
lose equal quantities of their weight;" or inversely, 
" that if two bodies thus immersed lose equal quan- 
tities of their weight, they are of equal volume." 
The use made of this general fact by Archimedes, 
and its application to the discovery of the specific 
gravity of bodies, will be readily found in almost 
all modern treatises on hydrostatics. At present, 
we have only to do with the interesting fact. 

98. Among the mechanical inventions of Archi- 
medes, was mentioned a machine for the drainage 
of marshes and rivers, which, on account of the use 
to which it was applied, may be considered as an 
hydraulic engine. This is supposed to have been 
an instrument similar to that which still bears the 
name of the screw of Archimedes,* and which has 
been found of great utility in raising water above 

* Encyc. Britt. art. Hydrostat. 



CHAP. IV.3 HYDRODYNAMICS. 131 

its natural level. Diodorus Siculus asserts that he 
invented this machine during his travels in Egypt, 
and first employed it in that country to carry off 
more speedily the annual inundation of the Nile; 
but Vitruvius, and others, have questioned the 
originality of this invention, and maintained that, 
though much improved by Archimedes, the machine 
in question had been long known to the Egyptians, 
and employed for the purpose stated above. 
Without presuming to determine this litigated 
question, it may be affirmed, that, as far as the 
reputation of Archimedes is concerned, it is of little 
moment; for whether this be numbered among 
them or not, it may be affirmed, that " no indivi- 
dual, before the time of Newton, ever laid the 
foundation of more, or greater, or more important 
discoveries," fully justifying the eulogium which 
Wallis pronounced, when he styled him a man of 
prodigious sagacity, who laid the foundations of 
almost all the inventions which constitute the glory 
of the present age. 

99. The next stage in the history of hydrody- 
namics, which can be distinctly traced, is that of the 
invention of pumps, syphons, and artificial fountains, 
for the elevation of water to considerable heights. 
These useful discoveries are attributed to the two 
mathematicians of the Alexandrian school, mentioned 
at the close of the last section, Ctesibius and Hero, 
both of whom flourished about a.c. 150. Ctesibius 
constructed a machine, in which the principle of the 
sucking and forcing pump was so combined and 
disposed, that, by their alternate action, the water 

k 2 



132 HYDRODYNAMICS. [jPART II. 

was drawn up and forced through a tube ascending 
between them. Hero, the pupil of Ctesibius, invented 
a fountain, which still bears his name, and produces 
its effect by the compression and condensation of 
air. But the inventors of these instruments, and 
those who continued to employ them for practical 
purposes, during many ages, were alike ignorant of 
the true cause to which their phenomena were to 
be attributed. The most visionary and unphiloso- 
phical theories were framed, by which to account for 
the elevation of the water after every stroke of the 
piston, among which, one was the celebrated Car- 
tesian doctrine, that " nature abhors a vacuum." 
Nor was it till the aera of Galileo and Toricelli that 
the important fact was ascertained, on which the 
operation of hydraulic machinery chiefly depends. 

100. In the absence of authentic historical in- 
formation, it is only possible to conjecture when and 
by whom the ancient instruments, called clepsydrce, 
or water clocks, and water mills for the grinding of 
corn, were first invented. From the allusions made 
to both of these kinds of machinery by ancient 
writers, it may be inferred, that they were constructed 
in remote ages. The clepsydrce are attributed by 
Vitruvius to the Egyptians, or Persians, but it is 
not known on what authority. These were machines 
which measured time, and indicated the hour by 
the gradual rise of water flowing into a vessel in 
quantities regulated by the divisions of time, or, in 
other cases, by the movement of a hand, which the 
water turned by means of a wheel on which it was 
made to impinge with a duly regulated force. 



CHAP. IVJ HYDRODYNAMICS. 133 

These curious but uncertain machines, which Vitru- 
vius has minutely described, were at length super- 
seded by sand hour-glasses, acting on the same 
principle. From an epigram in the Greek Antho- 
logia, it is concluded, that water mills were used 
for grinding corn in the reign of Augustus ; but to 
the reproach of antiquity it must be stated, that no 
care was taken to preserve the name, or do honour 
to the memory of the individual, who rendered so 
valuable a service to his species. 

101. In this, as in all other departments of 
physical science, it will be seen, that practice took 
the precedence of theory. Amidst all the improve- 
ments of art, and the splendid attainments of 
geometricians, the general principles on which the 
action of fluid bodies depend, whether in motion or 
at rest, were but imperfectly understood. The first 
of the ancients who appears from his writings to 
have formed any clear and definite notions of the 
general properties and laws of fluid bodies, was Sex- 
tus Julius Frontinus, who flourished under Nerva 
and Trajan, and to whom was confided the superin- 
tendence of the celebrated Roman aqueducts. In a 
practical and scientific treatise on these aqueducts, 
he states, as matters of conjecture, some theories 
relative to the motion of water in canals, and deduces 
from those supposed facts some general principles, 
which indicate no ordinary attainments in science. 
Many of these have since been verified and demon- 
strated, both theoretically and practically. Their 
author is, however, accused by the moderns of a want 
of geometrical precision in his scientific discoveries. 



134 PNEUMATICS. [PART II. 

Section V. 

ON THE PNEUMATIC DISCOVERIES OF THE ANCIENTS. 

102. The science of pneumatics embraces that 
division of physics, which develops the mechanical 
properties of air, and explains the phenomena 
which result from those properties. In proportion 
as air is a more subtile fluid than water, its pheno- 
mena may reasonably be supposed to have eluded 
the investigation of ancient philosophy. Pneumatics, 
therefore, considered as a science, must be reckoned 
amongst the exclusive attainments of modern times. 
Yet it is impossible that the acute and penetrating 
genius of the ancients should have wholly overlooked 
the element in which they breathed, and the atmo- 
sphere with which they were constantly surrounded. 
Ignorant as they were of its properties and laws, 
yet a thousand conjectures were framed, and in- 
numerable speculations attempted on this subject, 
which are rather to be accounted the morning 
dreams of philosophy, than its sober and rational 
deductions. Thus, some of the Greek philosophers 
maintained, that " air was the first principle of 
all things, infinite and spiritual, without form 
or substance — a subtle aether, animated with a 
divine principle, which rendered it the origin of all 
created substances — that it is the Deity diffused 
through universal nature, and perpetually active," &c. 

103. Such are said to have been the tenets of 
Thales, and the other philosophers of the Ionic 



CHAP. IV.]] PNEUMATICS. 135 

sect, derived unquestionably from the opinions of 
Eastern Magi. Others, as Plato and Aristotle, 
considered air as one of the primary elements of 
matter, which, combined with earth, fire, and 
water, constitutes and includes all the varieties 
of the material universe. These, however, though 
in themselves curious speculations, led to no valu- 
able results, and are only deserving of notice as 
proofs of the error and delusion, to which the 
human mind is liable in its most diligent investi- 
gation, unless guided by the light of true philosophy, 
or the more infallible dictates of revealed truth. 

104. The only department of pneumatic science, 
in which discoveries appear to have been actually 
made in remote ages, is that which relates to 
the theory of sound, to which modern science has 
given the name of Acoustics. This, though for- 
merly considered as a distinct branch of natural 
philosophy, having been ascertained wholly to 
depend on the motion of air, is most properly 
classed, in the present day, with pneumatic experi- 
ments. The records of antiquity prove that this 
department of physical science was not wholly un- 
known to the ancients. The invention of different 
kinds of musical instruments, and the astonishing 
effects said to have been produced by ancient mu- 
sicians, indicate a considerable advance towards 
perfection in an art which could not have been 
attained in any high degree without scientific know- 
ledge. Pythagoras is universally acknowledged to 
have been the first among the Greeks, who applied 
the elements of arithmetical and geometrical science 



136 PNEUMATICS. [PART II. 

to the theory of sound, and the laws by which it is 
propagated. To him is ascribed the invention 
of the harmonic scale, and the discovery, that chords 
are produced by synchronous or isochronous vibra- 
tions, that is, by vibrations measured by equal spaces 
of time ; and discords, by those in which the spaces 
are unequal and various. 

105. The manner in which that celebrated phi- 
losopher was led to this discovery has been thus 
stated by Nicomachus, an ancient writer on arith- 
metic : — " Pythagoras was passing one day by a 
blacksmith's shop, while several workmen were 
hammering on the anvil, and was surprised to hear 
sounds which accorded with the intervals of the 
fourth, fifth, and octave tones of the diatonic scale. 
On entering the workshop, he perceived that the 
diversity of sounds arose, not from the form of the 
hammers, or the force with which they struck the 
iron, but merely from the difference of their weight. 
Reflecting on the cause of this phenomenon, after 
he had caused the hammers to be accurately weighed, 
he concluded, that in exact proportion to the per- 
cussion was the vibration effected ; and as these 
were in the gradation of four, five, and eight, the 
tones produced exactly corresponded with those 
proportions." If the testimony of this ancient 
writer is to be credited, such was the occasion, 
which led to the construction of the harmonic scale. 
But whether this be a fable or not, it is certain 
that to Pythagoras belongs the honour of hav- 
ing developed the musical ratios, on which the 
harmony of sounds depends, and to which the 



CHAP. IVJ OPTICS. 137 

ear is indebted for so much of its enjoyment. 
The lively imagination of this philosopher led him 
to transfer this doctrine of musical chords to the 
celestial spheres. He imagined that those spheres, 
in which the planets move, being composed of ma- 
terial substances, struck on the asther through which 
they passed, and thus produced sounds exquisitely 
harmonious ; that these sounds must differ according 
to the magnitude, velocity, and relative distances of 
the bodies ; and as these were admirably propor- 
tioned, they could not fail to produce perfect chords, 
infinitely diversified. This fanciful doctrine re- 
specting what was then termed the music of the 
spheres, gave rise to the names affixed by Pythagoras 
to musical tones — the deepest or most grave being 
called after Saturn, because that body was believed 
to be the greatest and most remote of the planets ; 
and the shrillest or most acute sound after the Moon, 
because the least of the planetary bodies, and nearest 
to the earth. These first ideas of Pythagoras 
relative to equal and unequal vibrations of air as 
the cause of harmonious or discordant sounds, were 
the true source of the theory and science of music ; 
and the pneumatic discoveries of modern times have 
abundantly confirmed their truth. 



Section VI. 

ON THE OPTICAL DISCOVERIES OF THE ANCIENTS. 

106. The attention of men of science was directed 
at a very early period to the phaenomena of vision, 



138 optics. [[part ii. 

and to the nature and properties of light. Many 
crude, unphilosophical, and even ridiculous notions 
were entertained on those subjects, even by the 
most celebrated of the Grecian philosophers. The 
question was frequently agitated by them, whether 
objects become visible by means of any thing pro- 
ceeding from themselves, or of something that issues 
from the eye of the spectator. Pythagoras advocated 
the former of these positions, and contended that 
vision was caused by particles continually flying off 
from the surfaces of bodies, and entering the pupil 
of the eye. Plato, on the other hand, and some of 
his disciples, taught, that the gods having constructed 
the human eye, included in it a kind of fiery light, 
which, when the eye-lids are open, beams forth in 
rectilineal rays, and renders surrounding objects 
visible ; but which, when the eye-lids are closed, 
acts internally, and occasions the illusions and 
fantasies of dreams. Aristotle, in opposition both 
to the Pythagoreans and Platonists, maintained that 
light is incorporeal ; a quality of matter, and not a 
real substance ; adducing, in proof of this position, 
many arguments derived from its transparency, 
velocity, and intangibility. Yet amidst these fan- 
ciful speculations, there was found among the 
Platonists a portion of true science; for they are 
said to have maintained that light is propagated 
alone in right lines, and that it is capable of being 
reflected in an angle, which is always equal to the 
angle of incidence. And the Peripatetic philoso- 
phers, with Aristotle at their head, are known to 
have ascertained some of the laws of reflection, and 



CHAP. IV.3 OPTICS. 139 

explained by them the phenomena of the rainbow, 
halos, parhelia, and the like — all of which the an- 
cients comprehended under the general name of 
meteors. Aristotle's opinion concerning these was, 
that they are all occasioned by the reflection of the 
sun's beams in different circumstances, by which an 
imperfect image of his body was produced, the co- 
lour only being exhibited, and not his configuration. 
107. Nor were the ancient philosophers wholly 
ignorant of the theory of refraction, though their 
methods of solving the problem were most erroneous 
and unsatisfactory. They could not but perceive 
the obvious fact, that when light passes through 
bodies of different densities, it does not move 
forwards in right lines, but is bent, or refracted out 
of its course. Aristotle suggests many questions 
on this as well as other optical appearances, and 
attempts to reply to them on philosophical princi- 
ples ; but his answers are most frivolous and absurd. 
It is to be regretted that a tract written by 
Archimedes, on the appearance of a ring or circle 
under water, has perished ; since it is probable that 
the solution given by him was more scientific and 
rational, in proportion as his mathematical knowledge 
was greater, and his judgment more penetrating 
and profound. Some vague conceptions seem also to 
have been formed by Seneca, the Stoic philosopher, 
(who flourished at a much later period,) relative to 
the production of colours by refracted light ; though 
he attributes those appearances not to any real 
difference of colour, but to the different direction in 



140 OPTICS. [PART II. 

which they are observed by the spectators, so that 
the same object will exhibit different colours to 
persons viewing it from different points. 

108. The next important stage in the history of 
optical science was, the art of constructing mirrors ; 
an art which can be traced to remote antiquity, 
though its inventor and the date of the discovery 
are alike unknown. These were at first made of 
metal, highly polished, in the several forms of plane, 
convex, and concave surfaces. But after the art of 
making glass was discovered, mirrors, constructed 
of this material, were substituted for the metallic. 
The following account is given by Pliny of the 
accident which led to this invention : " some mer- 
chants, who traded in mineral alkali, having occa- 
sion to dress their food, and being unable to find 
stones on which their culinary vessels might rest, 
placed them on large blocks of mineral alkali, which 
being melted by the heat of the fire, and mixing 
with the sand on the sea-shore, flowed, to the sur- 
prise of the merchants, in a translucent crystal 
stream; " whence," says Pliny, " originated the 
making of glass." To what period this fact refers, 
the historian does not inform us; but from other 
sources it may be gathered, that if such were the 
origin of the invention, it must have been in some 
very remote age : for the works of Aristophanes, 
(who flourished about a. c. 430,) confirmed by the 
testimonies of Diodorus Siculus, Plutarch, and 
others, prove that mirrors and lenses were early 
invented, both for the purpose of reflecting distant 



CHAP. IV.3 OPTICS. 141 

objects, and collecting into a focus the solar rays.* 
Plinii Hist. Nat. lib. xxxvi. c. 26. 

109. But the most astonishing proof of the pro- 
gress made by the ancients in this department of 
science, may be gathered from the statements of 
Diodorus Siculus, Pappus of Alexandria, and others, 
respecting the lenses, or burning mirrors, with which 
Archimedes is said to have set on fire and destroyed 
the Roman fleet, at the siege of Syracuse. This 
achievement was in itself so marvellous, that we 
cannot be surprised at the attempts of scientific men 
in modern times to impeach its credibility. Among 
others, Descartes asserted, and attempted to prove, 
the utter impossibility of accomplishing what Archi- 
medes is said to have done, even with all the aids 
and improvements of modern science. The his- 
torical fact, as stated by two ancient authorities, 
Zonaras and Tzetzes, is simply this ; " that when 
Marcellus had removed his fleet beyond the reach 
of the enemies' darts, Archimedes brought to bear 
upon it a large hexagonal mirror, composed of seve- 
ral smaller mirrors, each of which had twenty-four 
angles, and which could be easily moved in any 
direction by hinges or plates of metal. The rays 

* Aristophanes, in his celebrated comedy of " the Clouds," 
ridicules Socrates by representing him as giving philosophical 
lessons to some obscure and unprincipled Athenians, and, among 
other proposals, one is, that the debtor should, by means of a 
reflecting mirror, melt the waxen tables, on which the records 
of his debts were inscribed : — A sufficient proof that, at that 
period, some such invention as that of burning lenses had been 
discovered. 



142 optics. [[part ii. 

of the sun falling on this mirror, kindled so great a 
fire, that the Roman vessels were quickly burnt to 
ashes, though at a greater distance than a dart 
could be thrown." The incredibility of the state- 
ment itself, — the silence of Plutarch, Polybius, and 
Livy on the subject, and the authority of Descartes 
and other celebrated moderns, so discredited the 
tale, that few men of science, who lived during the 
17th century or later, were disposed to believe 
it. But, according to Bossut, in 1747, Buffon 
proved, by actual experiment, the practicability of 
such an achievement ; and in 1777, a fragment was 
discovered written by Anthemius, who flourished 
under the Emperor Justinian, that places the ques- 
tion beyond all doubt. In that fragment (the 
genuineness of which was fully proved by Dupuy, 
its scientific translator,) Anthemius, himself a cele- 
brated mechanician, not only asserts the disputed 
facts, but clearly explains the manner in which the 
mirrors were constructed, the several parts of which 
they were composed, and the entire mechanism 
employed on this occasion, by the Syracusan phi- 
losopher. 

110. It is not a little remarkable, that with this 
practical knowledge of the method of manufac- 
turing glass, and constructing reflecting mirrors of 
immense power, there should be no proof whatever, 
that perspective or magnifying glasses of any de- 
scription were invented by ancient opticians. These 
might have been expected to result from the dis- 
coveries, with which they were familiar, but there 
are no authenticated evidences that any such 



CHAP. IV.] OPTICS. 143 

mechanical contrivances were devised. It has indeed 
been asserted (but on very questionable authority) 
that Ptolemy Philadelphus built a tower, or obser- 
vatory, in the isle of Pharos, and that on the 
summit of that edifice were placed telescopes of 
great powers, by which vessels might be discerned 
at a distance of sixty miles. It is not, however, 
credible that this important discovery should have 
been made in Egypt, in the reign of Ptolemy 
Philadelphus, and yet be unknown to the Romans, 
at a much later period, who annexed that province 
to the Roman empire, and brought to its capital 
most of the literary stores of Alexandria. From 
the " Qusestiones Naturales" of Seneca, it is evident 
that, in his time, the only kind of magnifying 
glasses in use were glass globes filled with water, 
used by artists in engraving transparent gems, or 
by antiquarians in decyphering illegible inscriptions. 
It is probable that the great obstacle which pre- 
sented itself to the ancient mechanicians, and pre- 
vented them from constructing perspective glasses 
of any description, was, their ignorance of the 
method of grinding or cutting glass, so as to 
exhibit a convex or concave surface; the utmost 
extent of their science on this subject not having 
proceeded farther than to the manufacture of 
hollow glass vessels, globes, and mirrors, whose 
surface was horizontal. 

111. A treatise on optics has been preserved, 
which tradition ascribes to Euclid, but the contents 
of which seem to indicate a later and much inferior 
hand. This treatise chiefly relates to the method 



144 optics. [part ii. 

of determining the size and figure of objects, by 
the angle under which they appear, and the. phe- 
nomena of reflected images in general. But the 
most scientific treatise on optics, written during the 
period under review, was that of Ptolemy the astro- 
nomer, in which he applied the laws of refraction, 
as far as they had then been discovered, to his 
favourite science, and thus discriminated between 
the real and apparent places of the heavenly bodies, 
as well as accounted for the greater apparent mag- 
nitude of the sun and moon, as they approach the 
horizon. This work, and its principal contents, are 
only known through the imperfect medium of later 
compilations and commentaries, the original having 
long since disappeared. After Ptolemy, nothing 
occurs to claim the attention of the historian in 
connexion with optics till the revival of that science 
in Arabia during the middle ages.* 

* On the subjects included in the preceding sketch of ancient 
physics, consult the histories of the several sciences referred to, 
particularly Montucla's History of Mathematics, Smith's His- 
tory of Astronomy, and on Optics, — Play fair's Dissertation, 
Memoires de l'Academie de Belles Lettres, &c. 



CHAP. V.] ANCIENT DIALECTICS. 145 

CHAPTER V. 

ANCIENT DIALECTICS. 



Section I. 

ON THE ORIGIN OF LOGICAL SCIENCE. 

112. In tracing the progress of knowledge, it 
will be perceived, that its advancement has fre- 
quently been rather the result of necessity than of 
choice, and that the particular direction which it 
has taken arose from circumstances apparently acci- 
dental. Thus the arts, which were most conducive 
to the happiness of man, or ministered to his wants, 
were cultivated long before the regions of metaphy- 
sical speculation were explored : the properties and 
phenomena of matter were investigated before those 
of the human mind engaged the attention of phi- 
losophers. And when this latter department of 
philosophy began to flourish, it was pursued rather 
as an art, to be applied to useful purposes, than as 
an abstract and speculative science. The dialectic 
art, which proposed to instruct mankind in the right 
exercise of their intellectual powers, and professedly 
taught them to reason correctly, was rendered ne- 
cessary by the state of philosophy in Greece, at the 
period in which it originated. The Ionic sect had 
spread itself in every direction, and several new 
schools of philosophy had arisen. Each of these 

L 



146 ANCIENT DIALECTICS. [PART II. 

was characterized by its own tenets, which, in many 
cases, related to verbal rather than real distinctions. 
In proportion as these differences were trifling and 
unimportant, it became necessary that the reasoning 
powers of the advocates of different systems should 
be rendered acute by constant exercise, and that 
they should stand alike prepared for attack and 
defence. The founders, therefore, of these rival 
sects were compelled to employ their utmost in- 
genuity in maintaining and vindicating the systems 
which they had espoused, and assailing the strong- 
holds of their adversaries. 

113. The term dialectics, in its proper and 
definite acceptation, refers alone to that department 
of logic, which suggests rules for discussion ; but 
the ancients used it with greater latitude of inter- 
pretation. By them it was understood to include 
all that relates to the improvement and exercise of 
the rational faculties. It not only taught the art of 
reasoning, but comprehended metaphysical inquiries 
into the nature and origin of ideas, the phenomena 
and laws of perception, and all the sources of human 
knowledge. On this account it is frequently difficult 
to draw the line of demarcation between the logic 
and metaphysics of the ancient philosophers ; and it 
will be perceived, that in attempting to sketch the 
former, it is scarcely possible to avoid topics which 
more properly belong to the latter. The most an- 
cient name given to that branch of science which 
moderns call logic, was analytics. It was so de- 
signated by Aristotle himself, in his own writings. 
But that of dialectics gradually came into use, on 



CHAP. V.3 ANCIENT DIALECTICS. 147 

account of the manner in which philosophers of 
different sects communicated their instructions. It 
was usual for the several masters to exercise the 
talents of their disciples in dialogues and debates, 
on which occasions, difficult questions were proposed 
and discussed, objections were started, and argu- 
ments suggested in reply ; propositions were contro- 
verted or defended according to the rules of art ; and 
he was accounted the most skilful dialectician, not 
who elicited truth, but who confounded and silenced 
his adversaries, whether by sophisms or sound ar- 
guments. 

114. Such was the practice of that class of phi- 
losophers, termed Sophists, among whom the art of 
logic originated. The principal of these belonged 
to the Eleatic and Megaric sects ; and on this ac- 
count, Zeno, the Eleatic, has been generally 
considered the inventor of dialectics, because it 
was he who reduced to system and order the me- 
thods of reasoning which had been previously 
adopted in the schools. It is supposed that some 
of the technical rules suggested by Aristotle in his 
logical treatises, were either the invention of Zeno, 
or of some other Eleatic philosophers. Compared, 
however, with the systematic form which logic 
assumed under the plastic hand of the Stagirite, the 
dialectics of the Sophists were exceedingly imperfect, 
and consisted of little more than mere verbal dis- 
putations. By them, the faculty of reason was 
perverted from its important and legitimate object — 
the discovery of truth — to technical forms and modes 
of discussion favourable to the propagation of error 

l2 



148 ANCIENT DIALECTICS. [PART II. 

and falsehood. The most celebrated of these Sophists 
taught their pupils to argue with equal facility on 
either side of a question, and, if possible, to confound 
their opponents by the subtilty of their reasonings, 
rather than convince them by force of argument. 
The ingenuity and dexterity evinced in these 
dialectic contests, obtained for those who excelled 
in them, a high degree of celebrity : they were ap- 
plauded in popular assemblies, entertained at public 
feasts, and sometimes enriched with the most valuable 
and costly presents. One of the philosophers of 
antiquity, however, by making his appeal to nature 
and truth, put to flight the whole host of Sophists, 
and rendered them objects of contempt and ridicule. 
This was Socrates, who, though not classed among 
the dialectic philosophers of antiquity, contributed 
more than any other to the introduction of a new 
and more useful species of logic. He effected this, 
partly by directing the attention of his disciples to 
subjects of higher interest and greater importance 
than those on which their intellectual strength had 
formerly been expended, and partly by introducing 
a more simple and natural mode of philosophizing. 
This method has been generally termed the Socratic, 
and consisted rather of questions and responses, or 
familiar dialogues, than of systematic discussions 
and controversies. The influence of this mode of 
communicating and receiving instruction, was suffi- 
ciently evident in the character and writings of Plato, 
and others of his illustrious disciples. 

115. Before the proposed retrospect of ancient 
logic, which it is intended to introduce into this 



CHAP. V.]] ANCIENT DIALECTICS. 149 

elementary work, is attempted, it may be useful to 
exhibit at one view a general classification of the 
principal dialectic philosophers of antiquity. 

The following arrangement is perhaps sufficiently 
accurate, though the writer is conscious that it is 
far from being complete : 

Class I. — The Sophists, including all the earliest 
Grecian philosophers of whatever sect, who directed 
their attention to the art of reasoning, from the aera 
of Thales to that of Socrates and Plato. This may 
be denominated the infancy and childhood of the 
dialectic art, during which, though some progress 
was made, yet every stage of that progress was 
characterized by puerilities and perverted talents. 

Class II. — The Academics, including all those 
of the Platonic schools who excelled in dialectics, 
whether they belonged to the Old, or Middle, or 
New Academy. These were considerable in number, 
and include some of the most eminent men of an- 
tiquity, both Grecian and Roman. 

Class III. — The Peripatetics, commencing with 
Aristotle, who unquestionably holds the first place 
among the ancient dialecticians, and who established, 
by his oral instructions and writings, a species of 
intellectual despotism, from which the human mind 
is scarcely yet emancipated, after an interval of 
more than two thousand years. 

Class IV. — The Stoics, who blended the rhetorical 
and dialectic arts, and included under the generic 
term logic, all kinds of metaphysical speculations, 
and all possible combinations of ideas and terms. 
The system of dialectic philosophy propagated by 



150 ANCIENT DIALECTICS. [PART II. 

this far-famed sect, may be considered as com- 
pounded of the JVlegarie logic, or that of the 
Sophists ; and the Platonic, but partaking in a 
much greater degree of the latter. 

Class V. — The Epicureans, who, though they 
affected to decry logic as a frivolous exercise of the 
mental powers, and especially to despise the logic 
of Aristotle, yet retained the thing under a new 
name ; for it will be seen that the Canonica of 
Epicurus differ but slightly from the dialectic 
rules previously suggested by the Peripatetics. 



Section II. 

ON THE DIALECTICS OF PLATO AND THE ACADEMICS, 

116. The brief notice of the Sophists, introduced 
into the last section, may suffice for a review of the 
earliest period of the history of logic. This depart- 
ment of the history of ancient literature would be 
disproportionably extended, and become wearisome 
to juvenile readers, if but a faint outline were 
attempted, and much more, if we were to present a 
detailed account of all the systems of logic taught 
in the Grecian schools of philosophy. The Acade- 
mics, the Peripatetics, and the Stoics, were con- 
fessedly the most celebrated sects; and their 
respective founders, Plato, Aristotle, and Zeno, are 
recognized as the great masters of the dialectic 
art, to whom, by the undivided voice of antiquity, 



CHAP. V«3 ANCIENT DIALECTICIANS. 151 

has been awarded the honour of having taught men 
to reason scientifically and systematically. A sum- 
mary view will therefore be given of the dialectic 
rules inculcated on their disciples by each of these 
celebrated masters, commencing with the logic of 
Plato, and the Academicians. 

117. Plato, having been a disciple of Socrates, 
not only imbibed his philosophy, but adopted, in a 
great measure, the Socratic method of instruction. 
His discourses and writings, whether they relate 
to physical, logical, or metaphysical subjects, chiefly 
consisted of dialogues, arranged with consummate 
art, and clothed in a diction so elevated, that the 
ancient Greeks were accustomed to say, " If 
Jupiter were to speak in their language, he would 
borrow the style of Plato." In these supposed 
conferences, the philosopher does not appear 
in his own character, nor does he directly 
state his own opinions ; but puts his most con- 
vincing arguments into the mouth of certain phi- 
losophers, who were then held in high estimation. 
Whatever advantages attended this mode of in- 
struction, it was attended with some injurious con- 
sequences, since it left the unpractised mind in a 
state of sceptical uncertainty, balanced between 
opposite theories and arguments, and incapable of 
distinguishing truth from error. On this account, 
he is severely censured by Cicero, who, though a 
zealous Platonist, charges that philosopher with a 
disingenuous concealment of his own opinions, and 
with leaving the questions he professes to discuss 
wholly undetermined. It is, however, but just to 



152 ANCIENT DIALECTICIANS. [PART II. 

add, that this concealed method of philosophizing 
had probably been borrowed from the Egyptian 
priests, with whom he had associated in early life, 
and was strengthened by the danger which Socrates 
had incurred by adopting a contrary line of con- 
duct. Whether designed or not, it is certain, that 
amidst all the poetical charms with which even 
his most abstract writings are invested, the main 
question of the dialogue is either covered with an 
impenetrable veil of obscurity, or so long kept in 
suspense by minute detail and colloquial interrup- 
tions, that the most attentive reader can with 
difficulty follow the thread of argument, and looks 
in vain for a general conclusion. 

118. Plato divides philosophy into three great 
branches ; viz. dialectics, or the art of reasoning ; 
theoretic inquiries concerning God, nature, the 
human soul, matter, and the like, all of which he 
included under the term physics ; and practical 
rules, concerning life and manners, to which was 
given the appropriate name of ethics. At present 
we have only to do with the first of these divisions 
of philosophy. 

The science of logic, or dialectics, was divided by 
the Academic philosophers into five parts ; namely, 
Division, Definition, Analysis, Induction, and Syl- 
logism. The three former of these were considered 
as regarding chiefly the essences of things ; the two 
latter, as comprehending their accidents or modifi- 
cations. 

(1.) Division denoted that part of logic which 
separates essences, which discriminates between 



CHAP, v.]] ANCIENT DIALECTICIANS. 153 

genera and species, or which distributes the whole 
into its essential parts ; as when man is consi- 
dered a material and spiritual being, or when the 
human mind is contemplated as consisting of per- 
ception, memory, association, and the like. This is 
again subdivided into division of essences, of acci- 
dents, and of terms or words. 

(2.) Definitions were considered as the result of 
such distributions, or the expression of the genera 
of things in connexion with their specific differences ; 
as when man is described as an animal possessed of 
certain properties, or endowed with certain facul- 
ties, both mental tod corporeal. 

(3.) Analysis describes the process by which the 
mind advances from sensible to intellectual objects, 
which Plato terms intelligible s. These he sub- 
divides into three classes ; viz. primary intelligible s, 
comprehending those objects of human knowledge 
which admit of demonstration ; secondary intelli- 
gibles, or indemonstrable propositions, though 
attended with a high degree of probability, and 
sustained by inferential reasonings ; and hypothetical 
intelligibles, under which are included all con- 
jectural or supposititious arguments. 

(4.) Induction signified, in the Platonic school, 
(what it still denotes), the progress from individuals 
to universals, or the discovery of general principles 
by means of connected and successive facts. In 
addition, however, to this, Plato included under 
this term, reasonings from analogy, or arguments 
founded on real or supposed resemblances. 

(5.) Syllogisms were invented by Plato for the 



154 ANCIENT DIALECTICIANS. [PART II. 

purpose of deducing legitimate conclusions from 
intermediate propositions. These were subdivided 
into categorical, hypothetical, and mixed syllogisms. 
The categorical were those which consisted alone 
of axioms, or self-evident propositions, the truth 
and certainty of which could not be questioned ; 
the hypothetical were composed of arguments which 
were assumed, or admitted of controversy ; and the 
mixed were those in which arguments were built 
on consequences, rather than antecedent or pre- 
viously established truths. For the scientific con- 
struction of these several kinds of syllogisms, 
numerous rules are given, with suitable illus- 
trations. 

119. The preceding sketch includes the most 
important subjects included in the dialectic system, 
introduced by Plato, and propagated by the Aca- 
demic philosophers. They are preserved in several 
Dialogues, which are the undoubted productions of 
that celebrated philosopher. Of fifty-six, four treat 
of logic directly and avowedly, and several others 
indirectly and partially. The dialectic dialogues 
are entitled Cratylus, Parmenides, the Sophist, 
and the Politician ; the first of which relates chiefly 
to the correct use of words and terms, together with 
the laws of definition; the second, to the arrange- 
ment and classification of ideas or objects of per- 
ception; the third, to the rules of true and false 
reasoning; and the last is of a more mixed cha- 
racter, and intended chiefly to illustrate the rules 
of logic, by applying them to controversies then 
existing, which greatly divided public opinion. 



CHAP. V.3 ANCIENT DIALECTICIANS. 155 

Besides these, which are expressly dialectic, there 
are other dialogues which indirectly bear on the 
science, such as his Eutlnjdemiis, which was in- 
tended to explain the nature of sophisms, and expose 
the artifices of the Sophists; and his Protagoras, 
in which rules are laid down for the detection of 
false reasoning. 



Section III. 

ON THE DIALECTICS OF ARISTOTLE AND THE PERI- 
PATETICS. 

120. When it is recollected that the logical 
writings of Aristotle were not only celebrated 
throughout the Grecian states and the Roman 
empire, so long as literature continued to flourish 
there, and formed the principal basis of all the 
treatises subsequently written on that science, but 
that they retained their ascendency during the long 
period of intellectual darkness which followed the 
subversion of the Roman empire, when almost every 
other ray of science was extinguished; and still 
more, when it is remembered, that even to the 
present day they form parts of the system of edu- 
cation adopted both in British and foreign uni- 
versities, it must assuredly be felt to be more than 
a mere matter of literary curiosity to know what 
those writings contain, and to what they owe their 
unparalleled celebrity. Though the idolatry of 
Aristotle has ceased in modern times, and his 
scholastic logic has given place to a more en- 



156 ANCIENT DIALECTICIANS. [PART II. 

lightened species of dialectics, we cannot but feel 
a sentiment of respect approaching to veneration 
for works which evince the highest order of literary- 
talent, and which governed, with absolute authority, 
the opinions of mankind during a period of nearly 
two thousand years. All the writings of Aristotle, 
and especially those which relate to logic, are ex- 
ceedingly abstruse, arising partly from the nature 
of the subjects themselves, but still more from 
the veil of obscurity which he designedly threw 
around them. To this studied concealment he was 
prompted by the ambition which rendered him 
desirous of establishing a new sect, and transmitting 
his name to posterity as the Prince of Philosophers. 
" His writings," says Dr. Reid, in his excellent 
analysis of the logic of Aristotle, " carry too evident 
marks of that philosophical pride, vanity, and envy, 
which have often sullied the character of the learned. 
He determines boldly things above all human 
knowledge, and enters on the most difficult ques- 
tions, as his royal pupil (Alexander of Macedon) 
entered upon a battle, with full assurance of success. 
He delivers his decisions oracularly, and without 
any fear of mistake. Rather than confess his igno- 
rance, he hides it under hard words and ambiguous 
expressions, of which his interpreters can make 
what they please. There is even reason to suspect 
that he wrote often with affected obscurity, either 
that the air of mystery might procure great vene- 
ration, or that his books might be understood only 
by the adepts who had been initiated into his 
philosophy." 



CHAP. V.] ANCIENT DIALECTICIANS. 157 

Lord Bacon, when adverting to the literary 
character of Aristotle, has remarked concerning him 
with equal truth and beauty, " that his ambition 
was as boundless as that of his royal pupil, the one 
aspiring at universal monarchy over the bodies and 
fortunes of men, the other over their opinions;" 
and when censuring his disposition to detract from 
the merit of other philosophers (not excepting even 
Plato, under whom he had studied twenty years), 
Bacon sarcastically remarks, " After the manner 
of Turkish despots, he thought he could not reign 
securely unless all his brethren were slain." 

121. The celebrity which the works of Aristotle 
subsequently attained, give an additional interest to 
the curious circumstances which attended their pre- 
servation. All the writings of this great philosopher 
were bequeathed by him, together with his library, 
to his friend Theophrastus, who preserved them with 
the utmost care, both from attachment to his pre- 
ceptor, and his love to general literature. Theo- 
phrastus, at his death, left them to his disciple 
Neleus ; by whom they were buried in a vault at 
Scepsis, a city of Troas, in order to secure them 
from the king of Pergamus, who was collecting 
MSS. from every quarter for his library. Previ- 
ously, however, to their concealment, part of the 
works of Aristotle had been sold to Ptolemy, king 
of Egypt, and were by him deposited in the Alex- 
andrian library ; whence it is probable that they 
became known, though in a mutilated form, to the 
Arabians and Saracens. The entire original works 
were lost sight of more than 160 years, when they 



158 ANCIENT DIALECTICIANS. [PART II. 

were discovered and sold to a rich citizen of Athens. 
Sylla, the Roman dictator, brought them from 
Athens to Rome, where they subsequently came 
into the possession of Tyrannus and Andronicus 
of Rhodes, who caused copies to be transcribed, 
and by whom they were introduced to the attention 
of the Roman philosophers. Still, however, many 
years elapsed before they acquired popularity 
in the Roman empire. It was not till after the 
commencement of the Christian iEra, and after 
many learned commentaries had been written upon 
them by the eclectic philosophers, that they ob- 
tained the ascendency which, it will hereafter 
appear, they maintained through a long series of 
ages. At present we have only to do with that 
part of the writings of this great philosopher, which 
relates to the dialectic art. 

122. The logical writings of Aristotle, though 
published as separate treatises, have been long 
since collected into one volume, entitled Organon, 
to which is usually prefixed Porphyry's Introduc- 
tion. The Organon contains, (1.) The Categories, 
which treat of Terms, in one book ; (2.) Interpre- 
tation, or Definitions, (a treatise partly gram- 
matical and partly dialectic), in one book ; (3.) 
Analytics, including the whole doctrine of syllo- 
gisms, in four books ; (4.) Topics, or materials for 
reasoning and demonstration, in eight books ; and 
(5.) Sophistics, or Sophisms, containing an explana- 
tion of all the varieties of false reasoning, in one 
book. These are all the logical dissertations con- 
tained in the Organon; but many others are 



CHAP. V.] ANCIENT DIALECTICIANS. 159 

mentioned by ancient writers, which are lost, and 
consequently the contents of which can only be 
conjectured from brief extracts. Passing over Por- 
phyry's Introduction, which, though an useful com- 
mentary on the logical system of Aristotle, belongs 
not properly to the dialectics of that philosopher, 
we shall proceed at once to give a brief analysis 
of the principal contents of the Organon. 

123. Logic, as defined by Aristotle, is "the art 
of searching for and discovering truth." This im- 
portant science he divides into two great branches, — 
analytics 9 which investigates truth by incontrover- 
tible demonstration ; and dialectics, which estab- 
lishes it by probable arguments. To the former of 
these is assigned the primary station in the opera- 
tions of mind, while to the latter is assigned but 
a secondary importance. 

Terms are considered as the elementary parts 
of logic, and therefore occupy the first place in the 
Peripatetic system. These are either homonymous, 
synonymous, or paronymous : the first, comprehend- 
ing those objects of human knowledge, which, 
though differing in their qualities or accidents, 
are expressed by one name or term ; the second, 
those in which the name and definition coincide, 
or in which the same object is expressed by dif- 
ferent terms ; and the third, those which agree 
in general signification, but differ in their accidental 
forms of case or termination. Corresponding to the 
above are the three distinctions of univocal, equi- 
vocal, and denominative terms. 

124. The way being thus cleared for the scien- 



160 ANCIENT DIALECTICIANS. [PART II. 

tific and logical arrangement of terms, Aristotle 
proceeds to the enumeration of his celebrated Cate- 
gories, which were supposed to comprehend all the 
objects of human knowledge, and constituted the 
chief boast of the Peripatetic school. These were 
ten in number, because that quantity was considered 
by the Pythagoreans sacred, and indicative of per- 
fection. Some of the Categories relate, however, to 
mere verbal distinctions, the precise idea of which it 
is difficult to express by any single terms in our 
language. 

(1.) Substance; subdivided into primary and 
secondary. 

(2.) Quantity ; which is either discrete, as num- 
bers, or continuous, as lines, &c. 

(3.) Relation ; shewing how one thing is affected 
by another. 

(4.) Quality; of which there are four kinds: 
habit and disposition, power or weakness, passible 
qualities or passions, and form or figure. 

(5.) Action ; including all terms that express 
motion or change of place. 

(6.) Passion; or the state of the substance moved 
or acted upon, 

(7.) The when ; comprehending all terms expres- 
sive of time. 

(8.) The where ; or those which relate to place. 

(9.) Situation, or j)° s ^ on > including terms de- 
scriptive of local relations. 

(10.) The having, or possession ; comprehending 
all terms descriptive of property. 

These far-famed Categories have been applauded 



CHAP. V.3 ANCIENT DIALECTICIANS. 161 

by the followers of Aristotle, as comprehending 
every idea that can enter into the human mind, and 
a most perfect classification of all possible modifica- 
tion of language ; yet, notwithstanding this boasted 
perfection, subsequent dialecticians have presumed 
to augment them, by annexing several supplemen- 
tary articles, such as, opposition, priority, coin- 
cidence, fyc. 8fc. ; all of which, together with the 
greater number of the categories, might be included 
under the generic title of accidents. 

125. From the classification of terms, Aristotle 
proceeds to propositions. After having taken a 
comprehensive and philosophical view of the prin- 
ciples of universal grammar, as regulating the due 
arrangement of words in sentences, and establishing 
their mutual relations ; the various kinds of enun- 
ciations, or propositions, are minutely described 
under the several heads, of simple and complex, 
universal and particular, pure and modal ; the latter 
of which are further subdivided into necessary and 
contingent — possible and impossible, &c. &c. To 
these, which were considered as the essential qualities 
of propositions, several others were added, which 
were called accidental ; (1.) Those of Opposition, 
including contradictory, contrary, and sub-contrary. 
(2.) Consectation, or those which were of equivalent 
or equal force ; and (3.) Conversion, or those which 
involved a transposition of terms. 

126. From propositions, Aristotle proceeded to 
syllogisms, which, though invented by Plato, or 
probably some yet earlier dialectician, form a 
distinguishing feature of .the Peripatetic logic. 

M 



162 ANCIENT DIALECTICIANS. [PART II. 

Innumerable rules and directions are given for the 
construction and logical arrangement of these modes 
of reasoning. They are discussed with a degree of 
minuteness and subtilty, that affords an astonishing 
proof of the ingenuity and industry of their in- 
ventor ; but to enter into the detail would be both 
tedious and unprofitable. The rules laid down for 
the constitution of perfect and imperfect syllogisms, 
their division into moods and figures, and the 
artificial expedients resorted to by which to distin- 
guish them, have long since become matters of 
literary curiosity, rather than subjects of profitable 
investigation. By not distinguishing carefully be- 
tween words and ideas, and intermingling didactic 
rules applicable to both, this branch of the logical 
system of Aristotle is rendered unnecessarily obscure 
and complicated. 

127. This celebrated logician proceeds from 
syllogisms to another division of his analytics, which 
he technically terms apodeictics, or demonstration. 
Under this head are arranged all those propositions 
or trains of reasoning, which relate to self-evident 
truths, and involve in them, by immediate and 
necessary consequence, the conclusion to be de- 
monstrated. This is perhaps the most valuable 
part of his dialectic writings, and that which may 
be best applied to practical purposes. These are 
subdivided into necessary, universal, and eternal 
truths, as opposed to fortuitous, individual, and 
temporary positions, which from their nature do not 
admit of demonstration. But the most important 
distinction suggested by Aristotle on this subject, 



CHAP. V.3 ANCIENT DIALECTICIANS. 163 

and which is still adopted by logicians, is, the 
demonstration of the fact, or that process of reason- 
ing by which a thing is proved to be what it is, and 
the demonstration of the mode, or that which proves 
the manner of its existence, and explains why it 
is so. The latter of these is reckoned a perfect 
demonstration. 

128. The next division relates to dialectics , 
(proper), by which, as distinguished from analytics, 
was intended, the deduction of conclusions or infer- 
ences from probable premises, not axioms and self- 
evident truths. This is described as a conjectural 
art, which may be usefully employed by way of 
experiment for the advancement of science ; but 
with which the mind, intent upon the discovery of 
truth, will not be satisfied. Dialectic propositions 
express genera and their differences, definitions, 
properties, accidents, qualities, &c. &c. They shew 
to what class any subject belongs, what are its pro- 
perties and qualities, together with all the casual 
circumstances which may attend them. Many 
minute and subtle distinctions are introduced into 
this part of his system, which it would be tedious to 
enumerate. 

129. The last division of the Organon relates to 
Sophistics, or fallacious reasonings. As in the former 
part of his logical writings numerous rules were 
given for the construction of syllogisms, as instru- 
ments of correct reasoning, here he shews in how 
many forms those rules may be violated, and error 
substituted for truth. Every syllogism, intended 
for the refutation of arguments adduced by an 

m 2 



164 ANCIENT DIALECTICIANS. [PART II. 

opponent, is termed an elench. These may be 
either true or false. The former alone will be 
employed by those who aim at the discovery and 
propagation of truth ; the latter belongs to sophists, 
who have no other aim than to perplex an adversary, 
or propagate error. 

130. Sophisms may relate, (1.) To the terms of a 
proposition, of which kind six varieties are enume- 
rated; viz. 

1. Homonymics, when ambiguous words are em- 
ployed in different senses. 

2. Amphibolies, when the sentence is ambiguously 
constructed. 

3. Sophisms by composition, when that is affirmed 
of a thing in a state of combination, which is 
only true in its simple state. 

4. By division, which is the opposite error to the 
preceding. 

5. By accent, when persons are misled by pro- 
nunciation. 

6. By figure, which consists in reasoning from 
the literal to the figurative meaning of words, 
or vice versa* 

Or, (2.) They may relate to the subject of the 
proposition, of which seven kinds are enumerated ; 
viz. 

1. Sophisms by accident ; or affirming that to be 
essential which is only accidental. 

2. Those which are produced by applying the 
simple to the compound, and vice versa. 

3. Ignorance, or wilful mistake of the elench or 
argument. 



CHAP. V.] ANCIENT DIALECTICIANS. 165 

4. Assigning a false or unsatisfactory reason. 

5. Begging the question, or assuming that which 
is to be proved. 

6. Drawing false conclusions > unsupported by the 
premises; 

■7. Proposing a series of questions, which require 
different answers. 

Besides these principal divisions of Sophisms, 
four other false modes of reasoning are minutely 
described ; to which are given the appropriate 
names of falsity, paradox, solecism, and tautology. 

131. The preceding is but a brief and very im- 
perfect sketch of that stupendous effort of human 
ingenuity, which has rendered the name of Aristotle 
imperishable in the annals of literature. Perhaps 
it cannot be more appropriately concluded, than 
by introducing his own judicious remarks on the 
state of the science of logic before his time, and 
the design with which his " Analytics" were com- 
posed ; only premising that, however just may be 
his censure of the Sophists, he ought not to have 
passed over in silence his great master, Plato, under 
whom he had studied twenty years, and to whom 
he was indebted for some of those inventions, the 
honour of which he arrogated to himself. 

" Of those who may be called inventors, some 
have made important additions to things long be- 
fore known; others have made a small beginning 
to things, which succeeding ages brought to per- 
fection. The beginning of a thing, however small, 
is its chief part, and requires the greatest degree of 
invention ; for it is easy to add to inventions once 



166 ANCIENT DIALECTICIANS. [PART II. 

begun. Now, with regard to the dialectic art, 
there was not something done and something re- 
maining to be accomplished : there was absolutely 
nothing done ; for those who professed the art of 
disputation had only a set of orations, composed of 
captious questions and false arguments, system- 
atically arranged, which might suit many occa- 
sions. These the scholars soon learned, and sought 
occasions to apply ; but this was not to teach the 
art of reasoning ; it was only to furnish a few 
of those materials which that art is intended to 
produce." Then, alluding to his own logical 
treatises, he adds, " we have employed much time 
and labour in this subject ; and if our system ap- 
pear not to rank with those things, which, having 
been before carried to a certain extent, is rendered 
perfect and complete, yet we will hope for your 
favourable acceptance of what is done, and your 
indulgence wherever it is left imperfect." 



Section IV. 
on the logic of zeno and the stoics. 

132. The celebrity of the class of philosophers 
to which this section refers, the long series of ages 
through which they continued to flourish, and the 
influence they exerted on the literature both of 
Greece and Rome ; all these, and many other cir- 
cumstances, render it an object of importance to 
ascertain what were the tenets which characterized 



CHAP. V.3 ANCIENT DIALECTICIANS. 167 

their philosophical system. This will be more 
properly investigated in the next chapter, when 
the metaphysical opinions of the ancient philosophers 
will be briefly reviewed. But in the mean time, the 
dialectics of the Stoic school form too important a 
part of their system to be passed over unnoticed, 
and the rather as they differ materially from those 
of Plato and Aristotle. Though the great founder 
of the Peripatetic sect must be acknowledged to 
have been the chief inventor of the dialectic art, and 
to have carried it to the highest degree of perfection, 
the rise of the Stoic sect, under the auspices of Zeno> 
must also be acknowledged to constitute an aera of 
considerable importance in the history of logic. 
It will, however, appear, from the following sketch, 
that this science, as taught in the Athenian Porch, 
was so intimately blended both with the rhetorical 
art, and with the speculations of mental philosophy, 
that it is impossible to keep them wholly distinct. 
The Stoic philosophy was, in reality, an ingenious 
combination of the tenets and doctrines of several 
preceding sects. In physics, it resembled the 
Pythagorean and Platonic systems ; in ethics, it 
partook of the character of the Cynic and Heracli- 
tean ; and in dialectics, it united the subtilties of 
the Sophists with the science and method of Aristotle 
and the Peripatetics. Of this statement, the wri- 
tings of Cicero, Seneca, Antoninus, Epictetus, and 
especially of Sextus Empiricus, afford most convincing 
proofs. 

133. Zeno, the Stoic, divided philosophy into 
three parts — namely, physics, ethics, and logic ; cor- 



168 ANCIENT DIALECTICIANS. [PART II. 

responding with the three classes of virtues — natural* 
moral, and rational. Logic, which relates to the 
exercise of reason, consists, according to the Stoics, 
of two parts — rhetoric and dialectics ; the former of 
which divisions comprehends all declamatory dis- 
courses, and appeals to the passions of mankind ; the 
latter, argumentative discourses, or reasoning by 
syllogism and dialogue. The great object of the 
first is to persuade — of the latter, to convince. 
Rhetoric, considered as a branch of logical science, 
is of three kinds — deliberative, judicial, and demon- 
strative. Its principal parts are, invention, style, 
disposition, and pronunciation. Each of these is 
subdivided into many subordinate parts, which, as 
they do not properly belong to the science of logic, 
it is not necessary to enumerate. The dialectic art 
was defined by Zeno to be, " that by which truth 
is distinguished from error, and by which the mind 
is enabled to arrive at absolute certainty or de- 
monstration." 

134. As there can be no reasoning without ideas, 
an inquiry was first instituted by the founder of the 
Stoic sect into the origin of notions, and the manner 
in which they are produced in the mind. The 
source of all knowledge was conceived to be sen- 
sation. Impressions made on the brain, through 
the medium of the senses, (to which, as images of 
external objects, was given the name of phantasies,) 
led to perception, apprehension, knowledge, opinion, 
judgment, and all the various phenomena of mind. 
The notions, or ideas, thus produced, were divided 
by Zeno, as they have subsequently been divided by 



CHAP. v/] ANCIENT DIALECTICIANS. 169 

Locke, into two classes, sensible and rational ; in- 
tending by the first, those which are derived 
immediately from sensation, and by the second, 
those obtained by reflection, or the action of the 
mind in itself. These are subdivided into probable 
and improbable, doubtful and false. The phantasies, 
or images of external objects, are either immediate, 
as when we look on the individual himself; or con- 
sequential, as when the view of a portrait calls up 
the image of the person it represents ; or compounded, 
as in the case of a landscape ; augmented or di- 
minished, as when we look at a giant or dwarf. 

135. Having laid the foundation of his logical 
system, in these and many similar metaphysical 
distinctions and speculations, Zeno proceeded to 
the more definite object of the science, and inquired 
into the origin of language — the varieties of vocal 
sounds — words, as arbitrary signs of ideas, the 
elementary parts of speech, the relations, affinities, 
powers, and modifications of terms, when variously 
arranged in sentences — and the properties of style. 
According to this philosopher, the chief excellencies 
of style are, perspicuity, propriety, brevity or com- 
pression, decorum and elegance : its principal faults — 
barbarisms, solecisms, and anomalies. From words 
separately considered, or as grouped together in 
sentences, he advanced to definitions, their various 
kinds and essential qualities ; in which he seems to 
have closely followed the track marked out by 
Aristotle, in his books of " Interpretation" and 
" First Analytics." The distinctions and rules 
suggested on this subject, will be found in almost 



170 ANCIENT DIALECTICIANS. [PART II. 

every treatise on logic, which has been since 
published. 

136. The next step in the logical system of the 
Stoics, was the classification of the objects of human 
knowledge into genera and species; terms which 
were then employed in nearly the same sense as 
that attached to them by modern logicians. The 
principal divisions of genera are, real and imaginary 
existences ; and these are again classified by terms 
w r hich nearly correspond with the words substances 
or subjects, qualities or adjuncts, modes, and relations. 
Then passing once more from thoughts to words, 
all objects of thought that can be expressed are 
termed dicibles ; which admit of innumerable mo- 
difications, such as interrogative, imperative, hypo- 
thetical, &c. Advancing to propositions, the nature 
and properties of predicates (technically termed 
categorems ) are minutely described, and their 
varieties distinguished. Of these, the most im- 
portant are axioms, which are either simple or 
compound, possible, probable, necessary, connective, 
disjunctive, with a thousand other equally trifling 
distinctions. 

137. Reasons, or arguments, occupy nearly the 
same place in the logic of the Stoics, as syllogisms 
in that of Aristotle. They are divided into con- 
clusive and inconclusive, the former of which (as the 
terms import) denote those arguments which are 
legitimately conducted and lead to the discovery of 
truth ; and the latter, those which are imperfect or 
sophistical. Great attention was paid by the Stoics, 
as well as all other classes of ancient dialecticians, 



CHAP. V.] ANCIENT DIALECTICIANS. 171 

to the various kinds of Sophisms, the detection and 
refutation of which are of so great importance in 
debates. These were divided into the quiescent, 
the false, the occult, the inexplicable, the reciprocal, 
the defective, with many others. 

Finally, Method, or the general mode of conducting 
arguments, occupied an important place in the 
dialectics of Zeno. The chief distinctions made on 
this subject were, the philosophical and the vulgar. 
The philosophical method consisted in the scientific 
employment of all the didactic rules previously 
suggested, relative to definition, division, and syl- 
logistical reasoning : the vulgar, or popular method, 
might be pursued either by continuous oration or 
colloquial discussion. The former method is re- 
commended as best fitted to the exposition of the 
arts and sciences, and the latter as most useful in 
disputation and controversy. 

138. The sketch of the logical systems of the 
Academic, Peripatetic, and Stoic sects, which has 
been attempted, may perhaps suffice for the review 
of this department of ancient science. It would 
have been easy to extend it, by alluding to the 
dialectics of other sects, or by presenting the juvenile 
reader with analyses of other logical works ; but it 
is conceived that this would be neither desirable nor 
advantageous in so elementary a work as the present. 
The only additional work on the subject which 
claims a distinct notice, is, the " Canonica" of 
Epicurus, which is partly metaphysical and partly 
dialectic. Having premised that " Truth is of two 
kinds, that which respects real existences, and that 



172 ANCIENT DIALECTICIANS. [PART II. 

which consists in a perfect agreement between our 
mental conceptions and the nature of things," he 
proceeds to enumerate and classify the criteria by 
which truth may be discerned. These are the 
three following, which are the great instruments 
employed by the human mind in forming its 
judgments, viz. sensation, preconception or anticipa- 
tion, and passion or affection. On each of these, 
several general principles, termed by Epicurus 
canons, are laid down as rules to assist the under- 
standing in its search after physical or moral truth. 
These canons, though highly curious, and in some 
degree useful, it would be tedious to enumerate.* 



Section V. 



GENERAL REMARKS ON THE DIALECTICS OF THE 
ANCIENTS. 

139. The preceding review of the dialectics of 
Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus, and Zeno, may, it is 
feared, seem dry and uninteresting to such juvenile 
readers as have not paid any attention to logic. 
For their sakes, therefore, we shall step aside for a 
moment from the direct object of these pages, which 
is, the recital of historic facts connected with the 

* A summary of the principal contents of the Canonica of 
Epicurus, will be found either in the ancient biographical history 
of Diogenes Laertius, in the philosophical writings of Sextus Em- 
piricus, or in Stanley's Lives of the Philosophers, p. 851 — 856. 



CHAP. V/] ANCIENT DIALECTICIANS. 173 

progress of general knowledge, in order to shew 
that this science, (forbidding as it may appear, and 
formidable as was the array of technical terms, with 
which it was formerly encumbered), is of great 
utility and importance. That a contrary opinion 
should be entertained by many, can excite no sur- 
prise, when it is considered that, in succeeding ages, 
this art was solely applied to the most frivolous and 
useless logomachies ; that the study of logic super- 
seded, at one time, every other exercise of the human 
mind, and even usurped the place of the Sacred 
Volume itself; and that, in modern times, names of 
considerable authority can be cited, by whom the 
dialectic art has been held in sovereign contempt. 
To remove such prejudices, it is only necessary to 
turn from the contemplation of the abuses and per- 
version of this art, which were the combined result 
of ignorance and folly, to the objects which it pro- 
poses to attain, and' for the attainment of which, 
under the guidance of sound judgment, it is well 
adapted. It may be proper, too, to distinguish not 
only between the interminable disputations of the 
Sophists, but also the scholastic refinements and 
subtilties of the Peripatetic philosophers, and the 
true science of logic. 

140. The objects of logic, as stated by the 
ancients themselves, are, the exercise and improve- 
ment of the rational faculties, the exposure of error, 
and the discovery of truth ; and who will say that 
these are objects of subordinate importance ? With 
respect to the former of these, it is admitted that 
the mathematical sciences tend more directly and 



174 ANCIENT DIALECTICIANS. [PART II. 

effectually to the attainment of that desirable end ; 
they require so much abstraction of thought — they 
include such lengthened trains of connected rea- 
soning — they yield such perfect satisfaction and 
conviction, — that the vigorous application of the 
powers of the understanding to these sciences, can- 
not fail to impart to them a tone and energy which 
otherwise they would not possess. But next to 
these, which unquestionably occupy the highest 
rank in practical utility, it may be safely affirmed, 
that logic occupies no mean place, and exerts no 
ordinary influence on the intellectual faculties. For 
what is logic, but a development of those principles 
on which mathematical reasonings are founded, and 
a systematic classification of the elements of mathe- 
matical knowledge ? A modern writer of consider- 
able eminence has, therefore, most fitly termed 
mathematics " the noblest praxis of logic." " Is it," 
says Dr. Reid, " of no use in reasoning, to be well 
acquainted with the various powers of the human 
understanding, by which we reason ? Is it of no use 
to resolve the various kinds of reasoning into their 
simple elements, and to discover, as far as we are 
able, the rules by which these elements are combined 
in judging and reasoning? Is it of no use to mark 
the various fallacies in reasoning, by which even the 
most ingenious men have been led into error ? It 
must surely betray great want of understanding to 
think these things useless and unimportant. Yet 
these are the things which logicians have attempted, 
and which they have executed, — not indeed so com- 
pletely as to leave no room for improvement, but in 



CHAP. V/] ANCIENT DIALECTICIANS. 175 

such a manner as to give very considerable aid to 
our reasoning powers. That the principles laid 
down with regard to definition and division — with 
regard to the conversion and opposition of propo- 
sitions and the general rules of reasoning — are not 
without use, is sufficiently apparent from the blun- 
ders of those who disdain any acquaintance with 
them."— Reid's Analysts, chap. v. sect. 1. 

141. Such being the objects of logic, its general 
utility must be apparent; but it may still be ques- 
tioned, with reference to the dialectics of former 
ages, and especially the logic of Aristotle, how far 
they were fitted to attain the proposed end ? That 
these are curious and venerable monuments of anti- 
quity, few who are acquainted with them will feel 
disposed to question ; and that these are parts of the 
ancient systems of logic, which, being founded in 
reason and truth, must prove permanently useful, 
and have consequently formed essential parts of all 
modern treatises on the subject, is equally evident. 
None can regret that the idolatry and despotism of 
Aristotle have ceased ; nor can any one seriously 
wish that the period should return in which the 
Categories should be venerated, as the most perfect 
classification of the objects of knowledge ; or that 
all the moods and figures of syllogism should be 
again distinguished by barbarous technical phrases, 
though they were not wholly without their use. It 
is well that these are now regarded rather as mat- 
ters of literary curiosity, than as constituting parts 
of a logical education. Yet if we reflect on the 
necessity of accurate discrimination in order to dis- 



176 ANCIENT DIALECTICIANS. [>ART II. 

cern things that differ, and the importance of method 
to success in almost every undertaking, we cannot 
but be convinced that the rules of syllogistic reason- 
ing, and the methodical arrangement of ideas and 
propositions, which logic suggests, may assist both 
in the detection of error, and the development of 
truth. And here, in confirmation of these remarks, 
the writer cannot forbear to cite once more an 
author, who certainly cannot be justly accused of 
an undue deference to the authority of the ancients. 
" There is perhaps no practical art which may not 
be acquired, in a very considerable degree, by exam- 
ple and practice, without reducing it to rules. But 
practice, joined with rules, may carry a man further 
on in his art, and more quickly than practice without 
rules. Every ingenious artist knows the utility of 
having his art reduced to rule, and by that means 
made a science. He is thereby enlightened in his 
practice, and works with more assurance. By rules 
he sometimes corrects his own errors, and often 
detects the errors of others. He finds them of great 
use to confirm his judgment, to justify what is right, 
and to condemn what is wrong." Alluding more 
particularly to the ancient dialectics, the same writer 
remarks most justly, that " although the art of 
categorical syllogism is better fitted for scholastic 
litigation than for real improvement in knowledge, 
it is a venerable piece of antiquity, and a great 
effort of human genius. We admire the pyramids 
of Egypt, and the wall of China, though useless 
burdens on the earth; — we can bear the most 
minute description of them, and travel hundreds 



CHAP. Vj ANCIENT DIALECTICIANS. 177 

of leagues to see them : if any person should, with 
sacrilegious hands, destroy or deface them, his 
memory would be held in abhorrence. The predi- 
caments and predicables, the analytics and topics, 
the rules of syllogism and the dialectics of ancient 
philosophy, have a like title to our veneration as 
antiquities. They are uncommon efforts, not of 
physical power, but of human genius, and they make 
a remarkable period in the progress of human 
reason."— Reid's Analysis of Aristotle's Logic, 
c. v. sect. 1. 



N 



178 ANCIENT METAPHYSICS. [PART II. 



CHAPTER VI. 

ANCIENT METAPHYSICS. 



Section I. 



ON THE ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF METAPHYSICAL 
SCIENCE AMONG THE PHILOSOPHERS OF GREECE. 

142. The present work being chiefly intended 
for the instruction of youth, it would be evidently 
improper to enter far into this department of ancient 
literature. It could answer no valuable end to 
conduct the young inquirer through all those mazes 
of abstract speculation, in which the philosophers 
of antiquity indulged, and amidst which minds of 
maturer growth have been perplexed and bewildered. 
The detail would be both uninteresting and un- 
profitable. Yet, as these speculations form an 
essential part of the history of ancient philosophy, 
it would be improper to pass them over unnoticed. 
It will be therefore attempted, in this division 
of our historical review, to make a selection, and 
exhibit, in as simple a form as possible, the distin- 
guishing tenets of the most celebrated philosophers 
and the principal sects, passing over those which, 
either on account of their vagueness or their absur- 
dity, may justly be consigned to perpetual oblivion. 
From the distinction suggested in the introductory 
chapter, it will be apparent that the division of 



CHAP. VI.] ANCIENT METAPHYSICS. 179 

science, to which we now refer, is that which relates 
to mind as distinguished from matter, and that the 
topics it includes are the opinions and speculations 
of the philosophers of antiquity relative to the 
Deity; the human soul; its nature, properties, 
powers, and operations ; spiritual existences ; and 
whatever other subjects of human investigation 
obviously arose out of one or other of these objects 
of intellectual research. 

143. In reviewing the literary history of oriental 
nations, allusion was made to some of the meta- 
physical tenets maintained by the philosophers of 
the East; and it will be perceived, in the sketch 
about to be given, that the metaphysics of the 
Grecian philosophers partook of the same character, 
and probably had one common origin. It is dif- 
ficult to ascertain the precise aera in which meta- 
physical science originated in Greece, or by whom 
it was first introduced. Some of the most ancient 
philosophers, both of the Ionic and Italic sects, 
speculated on the nature and properties of the 
human soul, and framed some crude and conjectural 
theories relative to the perceptive and sentient 
faculties of man; but these speculations were so 
completely visionary, and so blended with physical 
and material phenomena, as scarcely to deserve 
attention. If by the term metaphysicians, as 
already defined, be meant that class of philosophers, 
whose researches were principally directed to the 
phenomena of mind separately from those of 
matter, scarcely can it be affirmed that any 
approach was made towards a metaphysical system 

n2 



180 ANCIENT METAPHYSICS. [PART II. 

by any of the Grecian sects, till the aeras of Plato 
and Aristotle. To the theories of these fathers of 
ancient philosophy, our attention will therefore be 
chiefly directed at present. Yet as it is desirable 
to trace the stream of knowledge as far back as 
possible towards its native source, we shall first 
glance at the advances made in this department of 
science, before the periods to which we have just 
alluded. 

144. The first of the philosophers of Greece, 
who seems to have formed any conception of an 
immaterial intelligent agency, was Anaxagoras, a 
philosopher of the Ionic sect, who flourished about 
a. c. 440. It may be gathered, from ancient records, 
that this distinguished philosopher taught his dis- 
ciples to attribute the formation of the universe, 
not, as his predecessors had done, to blind chance 
or fate, or inert matter, but to an infinite mind, 
which had a continued and separate existence, inde- 
pendently of the material universe. Of the meta- 
physical system of Anaxagoras (if system it may be 
called), the following summary has been given: — 
u The most important improvement in philosophy 
suggested by this philosopher was that of separating 
the active principle in nature from the material 
mass upon which it acts, and thus introducing a 
distinct intelligent cause of all things. The similar 
particles of matter, which he supposes to be the 
basis of nature, being without life and motion, could 
not produce themselves; and, therefore, he con- 
cluded that there must have been, from eternity, 
an intelligent principle or infinite mind, existing 



CHAP. VI J ANCIENT METAPHYSICS* 1S1 

separately from matter, which, having the power 
of motion within itself, communicated it to the 
material world, and thus produced the various 
forms of nature." On account of this distinguishing 
and important feature of his system, this philosopher 
was honoured with the title of vovq, or mind; " for,' 
says Laertius, in assigning the reason for that appel- 
lation, "lie first joined that agent to matter, by 
which order arose out of confusion." 

145. The opinions of Pythagoras and his fol- 
lowers on the subjects now under review, nearly 
accorded with those stated above. The founder 
of the Italic sect had been so thoroughly initiated 
into the mysticism of the Egyptian priests, and 
conveys his instructions in such symbolical language, 
that it is frequently difficult to perceive what his 
opinions really were. As far as they are intelligible, 
the following summary gathered from the records of 
antiquity may be considered as comprehending the 
principal tenets of the Pythagorean philosophers. 

(1.) Respecting God, it was maintained, that He 
is the universal mind diffused through the whole 
system of nature ; the source of animal life, the sole 
cause of motion ; in substance similar to light, im- 
passible, invisible, incorporeal, eternal, and only to 
be comprehended by the mind. Justin Martyr, one 
of the christian fathers of the third century, has 
quoted the following passage from the writings of a 
philosopher of this sect, as containing their theistical 
creed : — " God is one. He is not, as some suppose, 
exterior to the world, but in himself entire ; per- 
vades the universal sphere, superintends all pro- 



182 ANCIENT METAPHYSIOS. [PART II. 

ductions, is the support of all nature, eternal ; — the 
origin of celestial light — the father of all — the mind 
and animating principle of the universe — the first 
mover of the spheres." Another of the Pytha- 
goreans denominates the Deity, " the self-moving 
principle of all things." 

(2.) Respecting the orders of Intelligent Exist- 
ences, subordinate to the Supreme Divinity, it was 
maintained that there are three, which fill up the in- 
terval between God and man; viz. gods, dcemons, and 
heroes, who are distinguished by their degrees of 
excellence, and the proportionate homage due to 
them. These were represented by the Pythagorean 
system, as emanations from the Supreme Intelli- 
gence; possessing a greater or less degree of 
spirituality, as they appproximated to or receded 
from the fountain of life. Heroes, who constituted 
the lowest of these orders, were supposed to be 
invested with a subtle material clothing, more 
refined than the gross matter of which the human 
body is composed, yet essentially different from 
pure spirit. The definition given by one of these 
philosophers distinctly conveys this idea : " A hero," 
said Hierocles, " is a rational mind united to a 
luminous body." If to these three species be 
added the human mind, the whole scale of divine 
emanations, as taught in the Italic schools, will be 
perceived. 

(3.) Respecting man, it was maintained, that his 
nature consists of two essential parts ; one of which is 
elementary and material, the other intellectual and 
spiritual ; for which reason he is to be accounted a 



CHAP. VI.3 ANCIENT METAPHYSICS. 183 

microcosm, or compendium of the universe. The 
soul is also composed of two parts, — the rational, 
which includes all the powers of the understanding 
— and the sensitive, or irrational, which includes the 
appetites and passions. The sensitive soul is subject 
to decay, and eventually perishes — but the rational 
mind is immortal and imperishable, like the divine 
Intelligence from which it proceeds. With the 
philosophers of the East, from whom the system was 
probably derived, Pythagoras taught the doctrine 
of transmigration ; or that, after the rational mind 
is freed from the incumbrances of the body, it 
assumes an ethereal vehicle, and passes into the 
regions of the dead, whence it returns to inhabit 
some other body, either brutal or human, thus 
passing through a long series of purgations, till it is 
completely purified and reabsorbed in the divine 
nature.* 

146. Many of the Grecian sects, which arose out 
of the Ionic and Italic, may with propriety be 
passed over in this outline of ancient metaphysics ; 
because they denied altogether the existence of 

* One of the Roman poets has thus described the Pytha- 
gorean notion of metempsychosis, or transmigration : 

" What then is death, but ancient matter, drest 
In some new figure and a varied vest ; 
Thus all things are but altered ; nothing dies ; 
And here and there th' embodied spirit flies, 
By time, or force, or sickness dispossess'd, 
And lodges where it lights, in man or beast ; 
From tenement to tenement is tost, 
The soul is still the same — the figure only lost." 



184 ANCIENT METAPHYSICS. [PART II. 

mind as distinct from matter, and were either ad- 
vocates of the most absurd atheism, the grossest 
materialism, or universal scepticism. Such were the 
Eleatic philosophers, (with the exception of Xeno- 
phanes, Parmenides, and Zeno, who belong rather 
to the class of Pantheists and Idealists,) and the 
Atomic philosophers, of whom the most celebrated 
were Leucippus, Democritus, and Epicurus. These 
men, in the plenitude of their wisdom, discovered 
and taught, that the whole universe is made up 
either of atoms or vacuum — and that the former of 
these, by mere chance, came together, so as to form 
a well-regulated and beautiful world, with all its 
varieties of animate and inanimate beings. From 
these vagaries a^ - 1 absurdities, it is grateful to pass 
to a system which approaches nearer to rationality, 
and needed but the illumination of revealed truth 
to render it one of the sublimest developments of 
human genius. We refer to the metaphysical sys- 
tem of the earlier Platonists, a sketch of which will 
be attempted in the next section. 



Section II. 



ON THE METAPHYSICAL OPINIONS OF SOCRATES, PLATO, 
AND THE ACADEMIC PHILOSOPHERS. 

147. We are now entering on the review of that 
period in the history of Grecian philosophy, which is 
universally acknowledged to have been its most 



CHAP. VI.^ ANCIENT METAPHYSICS. 185 

splendid sera ; that in which Socrates taught,, and 
Plato flourished., and the Academic sects arose ; that 
in which theoretic and speculative philosophy took 
its loftiest and boldest flights. We have already 
met with one of these celebrated philosophers in 
other departments of literature. The discoveries 
of Plato in physical science, and his dialectic system, 
have been briefly adverted to ; but we now en- 
counter him in his own province ; in that division 
of science for which he is most celebrated, and in 
which he most excelled. When it is considered 
that the metaphysical speculations of Plato not only 
influenced the opinions, and pervade the writings 
of the most eminent philosophers of antiquity, but 
that the far greater number of modern metaphy- 
sicians (the venerated Locke himself not excepted) 
have also availed themselves of his labours and 
writings ; and, most of all, when we reflect that 
Christianity itself was, after a short period from its 
first promulgation, modified and corrupted thereby ; 
it may reasonably be expected that, in an elementary 
work, which professes to exhibit a brief but faithful 
outline of the philosophy of the ancients, the Pla- 
tonic system should be distinctly noticed. It must 
be premised, that in that system, as well as in the 
speculations of the oriental philosophers, theology 
was so intimately blended with metaphysics, that 
however desirable it may be to keep them distinct, 
it is scarcely possible to furnish an intelligible out- 
line of the one, without glancing at the other. The 
principal topics included in the Platonic system of 
intellectual philosophy may be thus arranged : 



186 ANCIENT METAPHYSICS. [PART II. 



I. THE DEITY. 

148. On this fundamental subject of human in- 
vestigation, the opinions held by Plato and his 
followers were extremely confused and mystical; 
yet, as far as they are intelligible, they seem to have 
so little of the grossness of polytheism blended with 
them, and to have been so abstract and refined, as 
to render it highly probable that they were remotely 
derived, through the medium of corrupted traditions, 
from the Jewish scriptures. It was taught in the 
Academic schools, that there is one intelligent Cause — 
the origin of all spiritual being, and the framer of 
the material universe. The nature of this Supreme 
Intelligence was declared to be incomprehensible ; 
though the marks of profound wisdom, and the 
oneness of design apparent through the whole 
system of nature, prove his existence, his unity, his 
supremacy, and his infinite understanding. He was 
further described as an incorporeal existence, 
without beginning, end, or change, and only dis- 
cernible by the " mind's eye;" and that to him 
belong all those qualities which characterize im- 
material substances, such as simplicity, ubiquity, 
and universal diffusiveness, or omnipresence. But, 
in addition to these general and abstract concep- 
tions of the Deity, Plato seems to have formed the 
notion of some mysterious distinctions in the divine 
nature, to which he gives the name of hypostases. 
These some affirm to have been two, and others 
threefold. The titles given to them indicate ex- 
istence, or being, in general— mind, or universal 



CHAP. VI.]] ANCIENT METAPHYSICS. 187 

intelligence, and life, or the principle of vitality, 
which was supposed to be diffused through the 
material universe. The first of these hypostases 
is represented as emphatically the Being, to denote 
self-existence and eternity. The second was con- 
sidered as the Wisdom, the Reason, or, as he is 
expressly called, the Logos of Deity, as well as the 
Author of Creation, and the Son of God. The third 
was termed, Anima Mundi, or the soul of the world, 
which will be more fully explained hereafter. 
Scarcely is it possible not to perceive in these mys- 
tical hypostases of the Platonic system an obscure 
intimation of the scriptural doctrine of the Trinity, 
from whatever quarter it may have been derived. 

II. NATURE, OR THE MATERIAL UNIVERSE. 

149. On this subject the founder of the Academic 
sect wrote with so much obscurity, and enwraps 
himself in so impenetrable a veil of mystery, that 
it is difficult to collect what his real sentiments were. 
The dialogue entitled " Timceus," which principally 
treats of " the origin and nature of things," contains 
opinions and statements which, if not contradictory, 
are yet so dissonant, that it would require the 
utmost ingenuity of reasoning to reconcile them 
with each other. Whilst, on the one hand, he 
speaks of God as the " Parent of the universe" — 
as " the Creator of all things" — " by whom all 
animate and inanimate substances were produced, 
which previously had no existence ;" on the other, 
he distinctly maintains the eternity of matter, and 



188 ANCIENT METAPHYSICS. £PART II. 

seems to represent it as co-existent with and inde- 
pendent of the great First Cause. Cicero, in his 
" Academic Questions" thus states the Platonic 
opinions on this subject : — " Matter, from which all 
things are produced and formed, is a substance 
without form or quality, but capable of receiving all 
forms and undergoing every kind of change. It 
never suffers annihilation, but merely a solution of 
its parts, which are in their nature infinitely divi- 
sible, and move in portions of space which also are 
infinitely divisible. It is the mother and receptacle 
of all forms, by the combination of which, with 
matter, the universe becomes perceptible to the 
senses." These forms originating in the divine 
mind, and being subjected to divine energy, God 
must necessarily be the Creator of all things. 
Hence arose the distinction made by the Platonists 
between matter and body ; the former signifying 
the eternal elements, from which the latter is pro- 
duced in all its diversified forms : and for the same 
reason it was contended, that incorporeal substances 
may yet be material. But the most singular tenet 
of the Academics, in connexion with matter, was, 
the notion that it possessed a sort of blind and 
refractory force, to the influence of which the dis- 
orders and miseries which abound in the world were 
to be attributed ; that inert and shapeless matter 
resists the will of the supreme artificer, so that he 
cannot perfectly accomplish his designs ; and that 
this is the true cause of the mixture of good and 
evil apparent in the system of the universe. May 
not these speculations, erroneous as they were, be 



CHAP. VI.] ANCIENT METAPHYSICS. 189 

deemed the commentaries of human ignorance and 
imperfection, on the Mosaic narratives of the Crea- 
tion and the Fall ? 

III. THE SOUL OF THE WORLD — (ANIMA MUNDl). 

150. Among the strange conceptions of Plato, 
perhaps none is more remarkable than that which 
relates to the "soul of the world," which, as has 
been already stated, was considered an hypostasis 
of the Divine Nature, co-ordinate in time, but not 
equal in dignity to the rest. By this phrase, he 
seems to have intended, the principle of life im- 
mersed in matter, and forming with the material 
world which it inhabited, and was supposed to per- 
vade, one compound animal. This governing spirit, 
of whom the earth, properly so called, is but the 
body, consisted, according to Plato, of the first 
matter, and of pure intelligence, so framed and com- 
bined together as to actuate the whole machinery 
of nature; it is the animating principle of the 
universe, giving to all things life and motion. The 
seat or residence of this mysterious agent was sup- 
posed to be the centre of the world, whence his 
power is described as emanating and extending in 
all directions to the utmost limits of the material 
universe, preserving an unbroken harmony in all its 
various and complicated parts. Upon this being, 
God is said to have looked with peculiar compla- 
cency, after having formed him as an image of 
himself, and to have given perfect beauty and 
proportion to the mansion he was destined to in- 
habit. This " Life of the World" thus vivifying 



190 ANCIENT METAPHYSICS. [PART II. 

with his presence, and pervading with his influence, 
all matter, is described as the highest object of 
divine complacency, and is sometimes designated 
expressly the Son of God. How otherwise (it 
may be asked) can this theory be rationally ex- 
plained, than by supposing that some of those 
predictions of the Old Testament scriptures, which 
foretold the incarnation of the Messiah, the Son of 
God, had been communicated to the Grecian phi- 
losopher in a corrupted form, blended with the 
mythology of the oriental sages, and that the result 
of this unhallowed combination was, the hetero- 
geneous theory stated above ? It may be added 
here, that the later Platonic philosophers improved, 
as they supposed, on this dogma of their founder, 
by contending for a two-fold anima mundi, the one 
presiding over, and the other inhabiting the world ; 
a theory which was grafted by some of the specula- 
tive christian fathers of the third and fourth cen- 
turies, on the christian system. 

IV. IDEAS. 

151. The notions entertained by Plato and the 
Academics on this most difficult subject, are so 
obscurely expressed, as to have perplexed the 
acutest metaphysicans both of ancient and modern 
times. As far as the ideal system of the Platonic 
school is comprehensible, it seems to have been 
briefly this — that ideas are the patterns or arche- 
types of all possible existences, subsisting by them- 
selves as real essences in the Divine Mind, Reason, 
or Logos, as in their own eternal region, and issuing 



CHAP. Vl/] ANCIENT METAPHYSICS. 191 

thence at different periods, according to the will of 
the Deity, to give form to sensible objects, and 
become themselves in their turn objects of con- 
templation to rational minds. Plutarch, when de- 
scribing the philosophy of Plato, affirms, that "he 
maintained three independent principles in nature, 
namely, God, Matter, and Ideas;" but that con- 
clusion is not borne out by the writings of Plato, 
though it may have been subsequently admitted 
into the Academic creed. It seems probable that 
the language of Plato, when freed from rhetorical 
ornament, meant nothing more than that there 
existed from eternity, in the Divine Mind, a notion 
or distinct conception of every thing which was to 
exist in time — a theory not unlike that for which 
Malebranche has contended in later ages. Still it 
must be admitted, that if this be all that was 
intended to be included in the ideal world of Plato, 
it is difficult to reconcile with this opinion other 
passages, in which ideas are represented, not only 
as objects of science, but the efficient and physical 
cause of all substances. The idea of resemblance 
between two ideas, for example, is said to be the 
cause of that resemblance; on which account ideas 
are sometimes expressly called by this philosopher 
essences; and he affirms that they always remain 
the same, without beginning or end. " The Reason 
of God," says Plato, in his Timceus, " comprehends 
the exemplars of all future existences, and is the 
primary cause of their being'." The conclusion 
drawn by this speculative philosopher from the 
preceding premises, was, that the objects of sense 



192 ANCIENT METAPHYSICS. [PART II. 

were fleeting shadows, and ideas the only perma- 
nent and enduring substances, worthy the con- 
templation of intellectual and rational beings. 



V. THE HUMAN SOUL. 

152. From some of the dialogues of Plato, and 
from the writings of the most celebrated Academic 
philosophers, it may be gathered that the Platonists 
considered the soul of man as derived from the 
Supreme Divinity, or rather, as an emanation from 
the Divine Nature. This emanation was not sup- 
posed to be immediate, but transmitted through 
the agency of the Demiurgos, or Creator, and by 
the intervention of the " Anima Mundi" This 
soul of the world being itself in some degree 
debased by earthly admixtures, the human soul, 
which was derived from it, receded still farther 
from the perfection of the First Intelligence. Upon 
this principle, the Platonic philosophers attempted 
to account for the origin of moral evil, and the 
existence of misery and suffering, since they taught, 
that " when God formed the universe, he separated 
from the soul of the world, inferior souls, which, 
while separated from matter, were perfect and 
happy, but became debased, when attached to 
and confined in material vehicles. It has been 
questioned by some, whether the immateriality of 
the soul formed part of the Platonic creed. It is, 
however, probable that Plato believed the soul of 
man to be partly material and partly spiritual; 
the former of these properties being necessary to 



CHAP. VI.] ANCIENT METAPHYSICS. 193 

its converse with sensible objects, and the latter 
rendering it capable of divine contemplation and 
intercourse with the Deity. In other parts of the 
writings of Plato, the soul of man is represented 
as consisting of three parts ; one the seat of intel- 
ligence, another of passion or feeling, and the third 
of appetite; to each of these, appropriate places 
were assigned in the human body as their fixed 
residence. With respect to the duration of the 
soul of man, it is unquestionable that the Platonists 
strenuously contended for its immortality. Nume- 
rous arguments are adduced by Plato, in his 
dialogue, entitled " Ph^do," in support of this 
opinion, some of which are drawn from the analogy 
of nature, and others from speculative and abstract 
reasonings. Sometimes it is inferred from the 
alternations of sleeping and waking, or the ceaseless 
revolution of the seasons; and sometimes it is 
argued from the supposed nature and properties 
of the human soul, its powers of reminiscence, its 
capacity of knowledge and indefinite improvement, 
and its communication of life and motion to the 
material vehicle which it inhabits. On these, and 
many similar grounds, it was maintained, that the 
soul, though it may pass through many changes, 
and inhabit different bodies, cannot cease to exist 

VI. DEMONS, OR SUBORDINATE DIVINITIES, 

153. Plato, in common with almost all the phi- 
losophers of Greece who were not avowed atheists, 
taught that there were certain orders of created 
intelligences superior to man, but subordinate to the 

o 



194 ANCIENT METAPHYSICS. [PART II. 

Great First Cause. To these he gave the name 
of Daemons, which he conceived to be, for the most 
part, struck off by the power of the Demiurgos or 
Creator, from the " soul of the world," though some 
of yet higher rank were supposed to be co-ordinate 
with him. To these subordinate deities were as- 
signed the charge both of forming and preserving 
inferior creatures, as well as of superintending the 
several parts of the material universe ; some ruling 
the stars ; others inhabiting and regulating the air ; 
while those of inferior dignity were attached to the 
earth, and presided over its inhabitants. This theory 
seems to have been borrowed from the Pythagorean 
philosophers, one of whom had asserted long before, 
that " the Ruler of all assigned the inspection of 
human affairs to daemons, and committed to them 
the government of the world." 



Section III. 



ON THE METAPHYSICAL SYSTEM OF ARISTOTLE AND 
THE PERIPATETICS. 

154. The metaphysics of Aristotle and his dis- 
ciples are characterized by the same ingenuity of 
invention and artificial obscurity, which distinguish 
his dialectics. So highly did that great philosopher 
estimate intellectual science, as emphatically to style 
it the first or chief philosophy ; intimating not only 
that, in his opinion, all other objects of human 
speculation were vain and trifling, but that this 



CHAP. VI.]] ANCIENT METAPHYSICS. 195 

comprehended in itself the sum of human know- 
ledge. In presenting a sketch of the metaphysical 
opinions of the Peripatetic philosophers, it will be 
most convenient to follow the arrangement of topics 
suggested by its illustrious founder. These are, 
being, abstractedly considered — substances or es- 
sences — the divine mind — the human mind — and 
animal life. In this order, the principal meta- 
physical dogmas of Aristotle are discussed in those 
of his writings which still remain, and the same 
classification has usually been adopted by his com- 
mentators both in ancient and modern times. 

I. BEING, IN GENERAL. 

155. The fundamental axiom of the Peripatetic 
school on this subject was, that " it is impossible 
that the same thing should be and not be at the 
same time, in the same subject, and in the same 
respect." On this primary and self-evident truth, 
Aristotle professed to found all his reasonings and 
deductions on metaphysical subjects, and by its 
means to demonstrate all the phenomena both of 
matter and mind. This basis having been laid, he 
proceeded to the enumeration of the several kinds 
of existences, and the different modifications of 
Being. These were considered, 1. With respect to 
their origin, as either self-existent or accidental ; the 
former applying alone to the Deity, the latter to all 
created substances. 2. With respect to their nature, 
as either notional or real — notional, as conceived in 
the mind, and real, as existing in nature. The 
former of these are again subdivided into true, or 

o2 



196 ANCIENT METAPHYSICS. [PART II. 

that which corresponds with the real nature of things ; 
and false, when the conception and reality differ. 
3. With respect to their several modes, beings are 
contemplated as existing either in power or in act, 
that is, as the subjects either of active or of passive 
power. By active power was intended the principle 
of motion or change, and by passive, the capacity 
for motion or susceptibility of change in any subject, 
on which such active power is exerted. 4. Con- 
sidered with relation to number, Being includes the 
properties of unity, identity, equality, resemblance, 
and the like. 5. And, finally, the genera and species 
of beings are adverted to — terms employed by this 
celebrated dialectician to distinguish their primary 
and essential, from their subordinate and accidental 
qualities. 

II. SUBSTANCES. 

156. Substances, according to the Peripatetic 
philosophers, are of three kinds—primary matter, 
form, and essence, together with the compounds of 
each. Corresponding to this three-fold modification 
of substances, three properties or qualities are 
enumerated — immovable, incorruptible, and perish- 
able. The first of these belongs alone to the Great 
Cause of all things, whom Aristotle describes as the 
" First Mover, himself unmoved ;" the second, to 
heaven, and spiritual existences, whether superhuman 
or divine ; the third, to animal bodies of every kind 
and degree. To the Primum Mobile, or First Mover, 
(whatever that term might denote, whether God 
or Nature, or an unknown and incomprehensible 



CHAP. VI.J ANCIENT METAPHYSICS. 197 

something, of which no distinct conception was 
entertained,) were attributed eternity, infinity, 
immutability, indivisibility, and spirituality. This 
abstract notion of a Primary Mover, Aristotle seems 
to have derived from his theory respecting motion 
in general, which he considered as proceeding from 
the perfect and eternal revolution of the heavens. 
But in order to avoid the absurdity of an infinite 
series of effects without a cause, he was compelled 
to admit into his system, a " Primary Mover" who 
from eternity acted upon the celestial sphere, and 
gave it its first impulse, just as the human soul acts 
upon, and communicates motion to, the several 
organs and members of the body. All other sub- 
stances, whether incorruptible or corruptible in 
their nature — whether eternal or temporary in their 
duration — are yet far inferior to this Great Primary 
Cause of Motion, by whose perpetual agency on 
matter, bodies undergo all their varieties of form 
and external modification, and are continually dis- 
solved and reproduced in endless continuity. 

III. THE DEITY. 

157. From the above statement, it will be evident, 
that Aristotle and his followers are not to be classed 
with the atheistical philosophers of antiquity, though 
their speculations on the subject of the Divine 
existence and attributes were far less intelligible 
and rational than those of the Platonic school. 
God is represented, in the Peripatetic system, as 
a Being distinct from the world and matter, but 
imparting to both their energy and motion; as 



198 ANCIENT METAPHYSICS. [PART II. 

superior, in a vast and incomprehensible degree, 
to all other intelligent natures, but not the cause 
of their existence ; for, conceiving matter to be 
eternal, the work of creation, or the primary pro- 
duction of the material universe, was not attributed 
to the Deity, but solely that of giving motion to 
substances eternally existing, like the main-spring 
of a machine, which does not produce the mechanism, 
but simply puts it in motion. In producing motion, 
the Deity was supposed to act not voluntarily, but 
necessarily; not for the sake of other beings, but 
for his own pleasure. Eternally employed in the 
contemplation of his own nature, he observes 
nothing, he cares for nothing beyond himself. 
Residing in the first sphere, he possesses, according 
to the Peripatetic system, neither immensity nor 
omnipresence. Far removed from the inferior parts 
of the universe, he is not even the spectator of 
passing events, and therefore can neither be an 
object of veneration or worship. He is indeed 
described as intelligent, immaterial, and eternal : 
but those attributes seem to have answered no 
more important purpose than that of giving the 
first impulse to the mechanism of nature, and 
originating the motions of the celestial bodies. 

IV. THE HUMAN MIND. 

158. On this subject, the following summary of 
the principal tenets of the Peripatetic philosophers 
has been given, which will be found to have been 
chiefly gathered from Aristotle's writings. " The 
soul is the first principle of action in an organized 



CHAP. VI.] ANCIENT METAPHYSICS. 199 

body, possessing life potentially. The soul does not 
move itself; for whatever moves, is moved by some 
other moving power. It is not a rare or subtile 
body, composed of elements; for then it could not 
have perception, any more than the elements which 
compose it. It has three faculties — the nutritive, 
the sensitive, and the rational ; the superior of 
these comprehending the inferior. The nutritive 
faculty of the soul, is that by which animal life is 
produced and preserved ; the sensitive, that by which 
we perceive and feel, through the intervention of 
the bodily organs. The senses are of two kinds ; 
external, by which objects are perceived ; and in- 
ternal, by which their properties and relations are 
known, and their agreement or difference observed. 
Perception differs from intellect, inasmuch as the 
former is common to all animals, but the latter 
belongs only to a few. To the intellectual part of 
the human soul belong fancy, memory, reminiscence, 
and other similar properties and powers. Fancy 
denotes the perception itself, accompanied with dif- 
ferent sensations, according to the object perceived. 
Memory is the permanent impression left behind, 
after the object is withdrawn, and succeeds to fancy. 
Reminiscence is the power by which it is recalled, 
and the lost impression renewed. The rational 
faculty of the soul is that by which it understands, 
compares, and judges. It is of two kinds — active 
and passive. By its passive quality, it is rendered 
capable of receiving impressions, or the forms of 
things ; but its active energy is the efficient cause 



200 ANCIENT METAPHYSICS. [PART II. 

of all knowledge. The knowledge thus acquired 
may be either speculative,, as conversant w r ith ab- 
stract truths, or practical, as influencing the will 
and affections, and productive of moral good or evil. 



V. ANIMAL LIFE. 

159. A distinction was made by the Peripatetics 
between the principle of life and of intelligence, or 
the soul and spirit. Animal life was supposed to 
be the result of an union between the nutritive soul 
and animal heat : so long as this union lasts, life is 
preserved ; when a separation takes place between 
them, from whatever cause, death follows. As far 
as any distinct conception can be formed of the 
nature and origin of the vital principle, according 
to the Peripatetic system, (in which the subject is 
treated with the utmost obscurity,) Aristotle appears 
to have taught, that it is a mysterious energy or 
power, emanating from the Supreme Intelligence, 
and externally transmitted into the human body ; 
by which all its movements and actions are regu- 
lated, so long as this animating principle continues 
inherent in the human frame. But there is no 
reason to suppose that this philosopher, like Plato, 
taught or even conjectured the immortality of the 
soul. It seems more probable that he maintained 
the total and final extinction of animal life at death, 
though not of being ; for all substance, in whatever 
form it may have existed, was believed to be eternal 
and indestructible. 



CHAP. VI /] ANCIENT METAPHYSICS. 201 



Section IV. 

ON THE METAPHYSICAL SPECULATIONS OF ZENO AND 
THE STOICS. 

160. The celebrity of the Stoic sect, both while 
the Grecian states retained their independence, and 
under the Roman government, renders it important 
that the tenets of its founder and most distinguished 
members, on all subjects, but especially on those 
which relate to the philosophy of mind, should be 
attentively reviewed. Every facility, which can be 
desired for this purpose, is afforded by the numerous 
writings of antiquity which still exist, in which that 
system is advocated and explained. The writings 
of Laertius, Cicero, Seneca, Plutarch, and Epictetus, 
w 7 ith many others which might be enumerated, 
furnish ample materials, from which all requisite 
information may be obtained relative to a sect which 
perhaps includes a greater number of illustrious 
names than any other known to the pagan world. 
In some of those valuable remains of antiquity to 
which we have just referred, the Stoical system will 
be found developed in all its bearings, and its dis- 
tinguishing doctrines are defended with much in- 
genuity and subtilty of reasoning. The following 
summary will comprehend its more prominent fea- 
tures, from which it will appear that it emanated 
rather from the Pythagorean than the Platonic 
school, though in many important respects it differs 
materially from both. 



202 ANCIENT METAPHYSICS. £PART II, 

161. (1.) Concerning Nature, its origin, and mode 
of production, Zeno and his followers taught, that 
there existed from eternity, a dark and confused 
chaos, containing the primary elements of all 
beings, which, at different periods, emerged into 
variable forms, and from which the material uni- 
verse was produced. But by whom or by what, as 
its primary cause, this arrangement was effected, — 
whether by an intelligent agent, or whether by a 
mysterious something which they termed Destiny or 
Fate, or whether by mere accident, — the wisest of 
these boasted philosophers were wholly unable to 
determine. Some indeed of the more devotional 
writers of this sect, (if the term may be applied to 
pagan philosophers,) speak of God, as the great 
active principle, pervading the universe, and dif- 
fused through all its parts ; but at" other times, the 
origin of all things seems to be attributed to blind 
fate, or necessity ; and sometimes to the mechanical 
influence of an ethereal fire, which imparted life to 
all created substances. " What is Nature," says 
Seneca, " but God? — the divine Logos, or Reason — 
inherent in the whole universe, and in all its parts, — 
or you may call him, the Author of all things." 
Diogenes Laertius, in describing this part of the 
Stoical system, asserts, that " God and the world, — 
the artist and his work — were comprehended under 
the term Nature, because they considered the Deity 
as mixed or diffused through the world. Sometimes 
they called that Nature, which contains the world, 
and sometimes that which generates and produces 
all terrestrial substances." In general it will be 



CHAP. VI .)] ANCIENT METAPHYSICS. 203 

found, that the rational, efficient, and active prin- 
ciple, from which the universe, and all that it con- 
tains, derived their existence, is promiscuously 
termed, by Stoical writers, " Nature, God, Zeus, or 
Jupiter, Reason, and Fate." 

162. (2.) The Universe was supposed by the 
Stoic philosophers to contain two principles, deno- 
minated active and passive. The former, ingenerate, 
incorruptible, and intelligent; the latter, inert, 
mutable, and subject to decay. They do not 
appear to have attached distinctly the idea of spirit 
to the active principle of the universe, though they 
assert that it is void of form, and destitute of 
the ordinary properties of matter. It was supposed 
to be in its nature corporeal, a kind of celestial fire, 
so refined and subtilized, so free from all the grosser 
qualities of bodies in general, that it might properly 
be termed immaterial and spiritual. The passive 
principle denoted, gross, inert matter, destitute in 
itself of all qualities, but capable of receiving any 
which might be produced upon it ; incapable of 
motion, but subject to the action of any external 
efficient cause. These two principles composing 
the whole universe, it necessarily followed, that the 
Stoics agreed with the Platonic philosophers in 
maintaining the notion of an " Anima Mundi," or 
divine principle of life and motion, diffused through 
the whole system of nature. To this universal and 
operative principle were attributed all the sentient 
and intelligent properties of mind. But however 
refined may have been the speculations of the 
philosophers of this sect, respecting the great intel- 



204 ANCIENT METAPHYSICS. [PART II. 

ligent Cause of all things, when they attempted to 
describe his nature, attributes, residence, and 
agency, they were involved in the grossest ab- 
surdities. They conceived of him, as dwelling 
in the super-celestial regions, in the form of ethereal 
fire — as impelled by a stern and inevitable fate, over 
which he had no controul — as borne along, in com- 
mon with all inferior existences, by the irresistible 
current of necessary causes and effects— and, in a 
word, as in no rational sense whatever, a voluntary 
or moral agent, but merely a machine, controlled by 
circumstances, and governed by invincible destiny. 

163. (3.) Respecting Man, the Stoic philosophers 
taught, that he is an image or exact representation 
of the world; that in him also there are two 
principles, active and passive ; or, in other words, 
body and mind. The mind of man was supposed 
to be an emanation, or spark of the ethereal fire — 
a 'portion of that reason or divine intelligence by 
which all nature is animated. But while they 
asserted that the human soul partook of the nature 
of the gods, they considered it as restricted in its 
energies, deteriorated and debased by its combi- 
nation with grosser matter. Thus Seneca writes 
concerning man ; "Why should you not believe 
that there is something divine in him, who is indeed 
part of God — that whole in which we are contained 
is one, and that one is God; we being his com- 
panions and his members." Epictetus, in stronger 
language, affirms, that " the souls of men have the 
nearest relation to God, as being parts oy fragments 
of Him, separated and torn from his substance/' 



CHAP. VI.] ANCIENT METAPHYSICS. 205 

" All men/' says Cleanthes, " proceed from one,, 
and will be resolved into one." The powers or 
faculties of man were said to be eight, viz. the five 
senses, the productive or generative faculty, the 
power of speech, and the ruling power, denominated 
reason. To each of these were assigned their several 
stations and their respective offices in the human 
economy. Widely different opinions were enter- 
tained respecting the duration of the human soul. 
Though none maintained its immortality, all agreed 
in asserting its existence after death. Cleanthes 
taught, that all souls would continue to exist, till 
the final conflagration ; — Chrysippus and Seneca, 
that this privilege would be granted alone to the 
virtuous and the good. Epictetus and Antoninus 
held, that as soon as the soul is released from 
the body, it returns to the soul of the world, or 
is lost in the universal principle of fire ; while 
others maintained, that it continued for ages im- 
mured, till the general destruction of the universe. 
Some philosophers of this sect seem to have leaned 
to the Pythagorean notion of transmigration, and 
others to the oriental scheme of re-absorption in the 
Divinity. 

164. (4.) In connexion with the preceding specu- 
lations respecting the nature and origin of Man, 
it was believed that there were portions of the 
ethereal fire distributed through all parts of the 
universe, and giving existence to an innumerable 
multitude of beings superior to man, though far 
inferior to the Supreme Intelligence. These were 
denominated gods or dcemons, who were divided into 



206 ANCIENT METAPHYSICS. [jPART II. 

two classes, superior and inferior : the former in- 
habiting the sun and stars, which they considered 
as animated substances ; the latter were human 
souls, in a separate state of existence, or heroes. To 
none of these, however, was given the privilege of 
immortality. " The Stoics taught," says Plutarch, 
" that the heavens, the earth, the air, and the sea, 
are full of gods ; but that none of them are im- 
mortal, except Jupiter, to whom all the rest will 
at length return, and in whom they will lose their 
separate existence." 

165. (5.) The Stoics, in common with all the 
other ancient philosophers, were much perplexed 
with the great question relative to the origin of 
evil. Some concurred with the Platonists in 
ascribing it to the deteriorating influence of matter, 
which defeated the original design of the great 
Artificer of Nature. Others, perceiving that this 
hypothesis was at variance with their fundamental 
doctrine relative to the divinity of nature, and the 
universal diffusion of the Deity, had recourse to 

fate, as furnishing the only rational solution of the 
difficulty, by which the actions both of gods and 
men were said to be controlled. Thus, when 
Chrysippus was asked, " whether diseases were to 
be attributed to the will of the gods," he answered, 
that "it was neither the intention of nature that 
such calamities should take place, nor was it ac- 
cording to the will of the Supreme Divinity, but 
that destiny deranged his wise and benevolent plan, 
and rendered these evils necessary and inevitable. 

166. (6.) But the most curious part of the Stoical 



CHAP. VI.] ANCIENT METAPHYSICS. 207 

system, which seems to have been chiefly derived 
from the oriental philosophers, and which they, in 
their turn, probably derived through the medium of 
traditional revelation, was, their belief in \\\e final 
dissolution of the universe by fire. To this, there 
are innumerable allusions in the writings of the 
ancient philosophers of this sect. The following 
passage, contained in one of Seneca's epistles, is 
one of the most express. " The time will come," 
says that celebrated philosopher, " when the whole 
world will be consumed, that it may be again re- 
newed — when the powers of nature will be turned 
against herself— when stars will rush on stars, and 
the material world which now appears resplendent 
with beauty and harmony, will be destroyed in one 
general conflagration. In this grand catastrophe 
of nature, all animated beings, (excepting alone the 
Universal Intelligence,) men, heroes, daemons, and 
gods, shall perish together." This catastrophe was, 
however, not supposed to terminate in the annihila- 
tion of matter, but merely in reducing it to its 
pristine chaotic state. Then all the present frame 
of nature will undergo a complete change — all 
material forms will be lost in one chaotic mass — 
all animated nature reunited to the Deity — and 
nature will again exist in its original form, as one 
whole, consisting of God and matter. From this 
chaotic state, it is again to emerge by the energy of 
the great active Principle ; and gods and men and 
all material forms are to be renewed, and dissolved, 
and renewed, in an eternal succession. Each of 
these grand revolutions, extending from the repro- 



208 ANCIENT METAPHYSICS. [PART II. 

duction to the dissolution of the universe, was termed 
by the Stoic philosophers — the great year. — Vide 
Enfield's Hist, of Philosophy, Vol. I. p. 338—341. 



Section V. 



SKETCH OF THE ECLECTIC SECT, AND SUMMARY OF 
THEIR METAPHYSICAL TENETS. 

167. After the decline of literature had taken 
place throughout the Roman Empire, about the 
commencement of the third century, there sprang 
up at Alexandria in Egypt, a new sect of philo- 
sophers, who assumed to themselves the name of 
Eclectics, because they professed to acknowledge 
none of the ancients as their masters, but to select, 
from all the metaphysical and moral systems of 
former ages, those principles which were most con- 
sonant to reason and truth. The philosophy of Plato 
formed the basis of this new system, and the earliest 
Eclectics were the professed admirers and disciples 
of that great philosopher, on which account they 
were sometimes called Later Platonists ; but in 
many respects, they differed both from the founder 
and supporters of the Academic sects. With the 
distinguishing tenets of Plato and his followers, 
were blended many others derived from the Peri- 
patetic, the Stoic, and the Oriental systems, to which 
were added some absurd and almost unintelligible 
speculations of their own. The design of effecting 
a coalition between the ancient systems, clearing 



CHAP. VI.3 ANCIENT METAPHYSICS. 209 

away the superfluities of each, terminating the con- 
troversies which they had occasioned, and forming 
out of them all a well -digested and harmonious 
system of philosophy, was in itself excellent : but 
the history of this sect abundantly proves, that its 
votaries utterly failed in the execution of this arduous 
task, and that, " by combining systems originally 
distinct from each other, by personifying abstract 
conceptions, by inventing strange fictions concerning 
the Supreme Being and subordinate divinities, and 
by raising upon these fictions a baseless fabric of 
enthusiasm and fanaticism, they introduced infinite 
confusion into philosophy ; and fatally obstructed, 
instead of promoting the progress of useful know- 
ledge." 

168. This sect was founded by Potamo, an 
avowed Platonist, who flourished towards the close 
of the second century. It was consolidated and 
extended by Ammonius Sacca, who had received a 
Christian education under Athenagoras, Pantoenus, 
and Clemens of Alexandria, and has been classed 
by some with the Christian philosophers of that 
age. His labours, however, were chiefly directed 
to the amalgamation of Christian doctrines with 
the philosophy of Plato. To him succeeded, in the 
Alexandrian school, Herennius, Origen, Longinus, 
and Plotinus. The latter of these, who was a 
native of Lycopolis in Egypt, and one of the dis- 
ciples of Ammonius, occupies a distinguished place 
among the Eclectic philosophy ; and indeed to his 
personal instructions and writings, that sect chiefly 
owes its celebrity. His numerous works on meta- 

p 



210 ANCIENT METAPHYSICS. [PART II. 

physics, dialectics, and ethics, furnish the fullest and 
most authentic information of their peculiar tenets ; 
and his active zeal propagated the system in many 
distant countries. Next to Plotinus, the two most 
celebrated advocates of the Eclectic philosophy 
were Porphyry and Jamblichus. Porphyry was a 
native of Tyre, educated first at Caesar ea, under 
Origen, then at Athens, under Longinus, and 
finally at Rome, under Plotinus. He is best known 
to posterity as one of the most zealous supporters 
of the Pagan theology, and a bitter enemy of 
Christianity. His principal writings, which have 
survived the wreck of time, are, " his Life of 
Pythagoras, Illustrations of Homer, Commentaries 
on Aristotle's Logic, and Life of Plotinus." These 
are characterized by much erudition and a species 
of splendid eloquence, which indicated a vitiated 
taste ; as well as by the absurdities and mysticism 
of the Eclectic school. Jamblichus was a native of 
Chalcis, and pupil of Porphyry, who flourished at 
the commencement of the fourth century. He was 
inferior to his preceptor in eloquence, but of equal 
learning and industry. He wrote on a great variety 
of subjects, the chief of which were historical, 
philosophical, and mathematical treatises. But the 
most curious, and by far the most valuable of his 
remains, is, his celebrated work on the " Mysteries 
of the Egyptians, Chaldaeans, and Assyrians," in 
which are found references to and extracts from 
oriental books which have long since perished. In 
addition to those enumerated above, who may be 
considered as the founders or principal supporters 



CHAP. VI J ANCIENT METAPHYSICS. 211 

of the Eclectic system, there were not a few of 
reputed learning, who, though not philosophers by- 
profession, embraced and advocated the Platonic 
philosophy, as taught in the Alexandrian school. 
Among these were, Julian, the Roman Emperor, 
Eusebius of Myndus, Hierocles, Proclus, Isidore 
of Gaza, Macrobius, and Ammianus Marcellinus, 
each of whom wrote in defence of the doctrines of 
Platonism. 

169. It is scarcely possible to give in an abridged 
form a distinct conception of the metaphysics of 
this school. The following outline, collected chiefly 
from the works of Plotinus, may suffice for our 
present purpose. The opinions of the Eclectic 
philosophers respecting 

I. THE DEITY. 

" The First Principle of the universe is not the 
universe, but above all, and the power of all, 
without which nothing could be ; which, though the 
fountain of being, is itself incapable of division or 
increase. This First Principle, the cause of intel- 
lectual life, the source of essence and being, is 
simple, and having no place, has neither motion nor 
rest. It is infinite, not as being immense, but as it 
is one ; and has nothing by which it can be limited. 
Because that from which all things proceed can 
permit nothing to exist better than itself, it is the 
best of all beings. It is essential good, most fair 
and beautiful; and because it is in itself lovely, and 
the author of all that is lovely, it is the beginning 
and end of beauty. No attribute is to be ascribed 

p2 



212 ANCIENT METAPHYSICS. £PART II. 

to this First Principle in the same sense in which it 
is ascribed to other beings, but in a manner wholly 
inexplicable. Its nature is rather to be comprehended 
by profound contemplation, than by any act of the 
understanding." 



II. MIND, SOUL, AND MATTER. 

" From this First Principle proceeds mind or 
intellect, and soul, or the active principle. The 
primary Essential Good is the centre ; mind, the 
light emerging from it, and remaining fixed ; soul, 
the motion of the light thus emanating ; and body, 
the opaque substance illuminated by the soul. The 
second principle, mind, is necessarily united to its 
source, and is the image of God, bearing such a 
resemblance to him as light bears to the sun. It 
is produced by the energy of the first principle, and 
is the excited power of vision, reflection, or intelli- 
gence. This second principle being produced, its 
energy produces within itself the fair universe of 
ideas, or intelligible natures, whence it comprehends 
a plenitude of all things as essential principles, 
before they exist as material substances. 

" From the emanative energy of mind is produced 
soul, or the active principle of life. This divine 
principle is the fountain whence all life is derived. 
It subsists, as well as intellect, within the divine 
essence, and is therefore supramundane. This is 
the immediate source of the principle which animates 
or resides in the world, and which is diffused in 
various portions through all animated nature. 



CHAP. VI.] ANCIENT METAPHYSICS. 213 

" Matter is the receptacle and subject of forms, but 
has in itself neither figure, quality, magnitude, nor 
place, and can therefore only be defined negatively. 
Nevertheless it is not a mere name, but truly exists 
as the basis of qualities. Matter exists potentially, 
and has so existed from eternity — bodies actually, 
with their peculiar characters, forms, modes, and 
periods of existence." 



III. THE WORLD. 

" There never was a time when matter and form 
existed separately, or when the universe was not 
animated. To suppose the formation of the universe 
the effect of chance, is absurd. The world is to be 
conceived of as having always existed, and mind as 
prior to it ; not in the order of time, but of nature ; 
and therefore as the eternal and necessary cause, 
both formal and efficient, of its existence. The 
sensible world is produced after the pattern of the 
intelligible, by the energy of mind pouring forth 
some of its own nature upon matter, and hereby 
giving it the first unconscious principle of motion 
and form. The world contains superior and inferior 
regions ; the former of which are inhabited by 
subordinate divinities, genii, heroes, &c. ; the latter, 
by men and inferior animals : because the world 
includes every thing within itself, so that there is 
nothing into which it can be changed, nor any 
external force by which it can be dispersed or 
annihilated, it must be perpetual in its duration." 



214 ANCIENT METAPHYSICS. [PART II. 

IV. THE HUMAN SOUL. 

" The soul of man/' according to the Eclectic 
system, " is derived from the supramundane soul, 
or first principle of life, and is, in this respect, 
sister to the soul of the world. Souls are not in 
the body as their place, nor as their receptacle, 
nor as their subject, nor as part of a whole, nor 
as form united to matter, but simply as the ani- 
mating principle; for it is in this respect only that 
we are conscious of the presence of the soul. 
The power of the soul is diffused through every 
part of the body ; and though it be said to reside 
in its chief instrument — the brain, it is incorporeal, 
and exists entirely every where within the sphere of 
its energy. Partaking of the nature of real being, 
it is immutable. It is the principle of motion, 
moving itself, and communicating motion to bodies. 
The vices and sufferings of the soul are wholly 
derived from its union with the body." 

V. A FUTURE STATE. 

" Souls, in the periodical revolutions of nature, 
separate themselves from the great first principle 
of life, and descend into the lower regions of the 
world. In their passage, they attract to them- 
selves an ethereal vehicle, and at last sink into 
animal bodies, as into a cavern or sepulchre. But 
when, by the power of reminiscence, they again 
turn themselves to the contemplation of intelligible 
and divine natures, they regain their freedom. For 



CHAP. VI p ANCIENT METAPHYSICS. 215 

though the Deity is not known by sense or rea- 
soning, yet by a kind of intuition, superior to all 
science and wisdom, the soul can see God in his 
real nature. This vision of God having been 
enjoyed, it will lament its imprisonment in the 
body, and rejoice in the prospect of that emanci- 
pation which is effected at death, when it is per- 
mitted to return to the Divine Nature whence it 
proceeded. After death, the souls of men pass 
into other animals, or ascend into superior regions, 
or are converted into demigods, and beings of a 
higher order, according to their present state of 
deplement or of purification." 



170. Such were the principal tenets of the Ammo- 
nian school of philosophers on metaphysical subjects; 
from which it will appear, that, though some light 
was derived from the Jewish and Christian reve- 
lations, their system was chiefly made up of Pla- 
tonism and Hinduism, rendered still more obscure 
and visionary by a thousand subtle distinctions and 
vain imaginations of their own invention. The 
preceding summary of the metaphysical opinions 
of the Eclectic philosophers, has been taken from 
the more extended view of the system, which the 
learned Brucker has introduced into his "History 
of Philosophy," and which he appears to have col- 
lected with much fidelity from the works of the 
principal writers of that school, particularly those 
of Plotinus and Jamblichus. Brief as is the sketch 



216 ANCIENT METAPHYSICS. £PART II. 

which has been given, it is evident that these far- 
famed philosophers frequently lost themselves in 
abstractions, and veiled their ignorance in a cloud 
of terms, to which neither they nor their readers 
could attach any intelligible ideas; that, with a 
few important truths, were blended multitudes of 
gross and palpable errors; and that, in defiance 
alike of the sober dictates of reason, and the autho- 
rity of Revelation, with which they were or might 
have been acquainted, they gave themselves up to 
vain imaginations; thus justifying the testimony 
borne respecting them by an inspired Apostle, 
" esteeming themselves wise, they became fools." 



CHAP. VIl/] ANCIENT ETHICS. 

CHAPTER VII. 

ANCIENT ETHICS. 



217 



Section I. 



ON THE ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF ETHICAL SCIENCE 
AMONG THE PHILOSOPHERS OF GREECE AND ROME. 

171. Although many ages elapsed from the first 
civilization of trie Grecian colonies, before the 
moral maxims, inculcated by the earlier phi- 
losophers, and to which they owed much of their 
celebrity, assumed a systematic form ; yet never has 
there been a period in which the moral relations 
of mankind, both towards the Supreme Being, 
and those of their own species, have not engaged 
the attention of the intelligent and the wise. 
Whence those notions of morality were derived 
in the infancy of society; whether from a primary 
divine revelation, handed down by tradition; or 
whether from the deductions of human reason, 
or whether by intuition, it is not our present busi- 
ness to inquire. Whatever opinion may be formed 
of the source or medium of communication, none 
can deny the fact itself. It is sufficient for the 
present to state, as a matter of history, confirmed 
by all the records of antiquity, that such elements 
of moral science are known to have existed among 
all nations, and in every stage of civilization, from 



218 ANCIENT ETHICS. [PART II. 

the rudest and most barbarous, to the highest 
degrees of intellectual refinement. Long before 
any considerable advances were made in physical 
science, it is well known that many moral apologues 
were invented, and many ethical maxims promul- 
gated for the instruction of mankind. An allusion 
has already been made to several Persian, Chinese, 
Hindoo, and Arabian philosophers, as well as to 
those who, by way of eminence, were designated 
u the Wise Men of Greece" who, if they have any 
claim whatever to the title of philosophers, must 
evidently belong to the ethical class. 

172. The first among the Greeks who made any 
approach towards the arrangement of a system of 
ethics, was the celebrated philosopher of Samos, to 
whom frequent reference has been already made, 
as the founder of the Italic sect, and who was 
confessedly one of the greatest men of antiquity. 
The moral instructions of Pythagoras, it is true, 
like those of his predecessors, were not drawn up 
in a didactic form. They consisted rather of 
aphorisms and sententious maxims, insulated from 
each other, and having little pretension to order or 
arrangement; yet they were classed under general 
heads, and formed into a kind of moral system. 
Whether the honour of this classification belongs 
to Pythagoras himself, or was borrowed by him 
from some unknown oriental philosopher, has been 
questioned; but it is certain that he was the first 
among the Greeks who attempted to promulgate 
the outlines of a moral system, in which the per- 
sonal and social virtues were arranged in their 



CHAP. VII.]] ANCIENT ETHICS. 219 

natural order. This is affirmed on the high autho- 
rity of Aristotle, who asserts, that the philosopher 
of Samos was the first of the ancients who under- 
took to treat distinctly of the nature of virtue, 
which he divided into two great branches, public 
and private; the former comprehending all those 
duties which men owe to each other, and the latter 
those which they owe to themselves. Under the 
head of private virtues, he enumerated " institution 
or education, silence, abstinence from animal food, 
fortitude, temperance, and prudence;" concerning 
each of which many didactic rules were given to 
his disciples. Among the public or social virtues 
were enumerated " conversation, friendship, reli- 
gious worship, reverence for the dead, and legis- 
lation." Two methods of conveying this moral 
instruction were adopted; one, that of proverbial 
maxims, short, and easy of remembrance ; the other, 
that of mystical symbols, some of which were ex- 
ceedingly curious, and only to be understood by the 
initiated.* 

173. The next important sera in the history of 
ancient ethics, was that in which Socrates flourished, 
who stands pre-eminent among the philosophers of 
this department. He was the first of the pagan 
philosophers, who laid down, as the basis of all his 
moral instruction, a regard to the authority of the 
Supreme Legislator. In his lectures and discourses, 



* A full account of these, collected chiefly from the writings 
of Diogenes Laertius, is given by Stanley, in his History of 
Philosophers. 



220 ANCIENT ETHICS. [PART II. 

(as far as they can be collected from the writings of 
Plato and Xenophon,) he seems to have kept in 
view one great object, namely, to impress the minds 
of his disciples with sublime conceptions of the 
character and moral administration of the Deity, 
and on this ground to rest the obligation of intelli- 
gent and accountable beings to practise every 
private and social virtue. The principles of virtuous 
conduct, he contended, were in reality the laws of 
God, which are alike binding on all mankind, and 
can never be violated with impunity. The chief 
arguments by which this position was supported, 
were derived from the instances of moral retribution 
which continually occur both in the history of 
nations and individuals. As far as the opinions of 
this celebrated moral philosopher, on the much 
agitated question respecting the nature and grounds 
of moral obligation, can be collected from the testi- 
mony of his disciples, (for Socrates himself left no 
writings behind him,) they seem to have amounted 
to this, that " there is in every man a conscience, 
or what modern ethical writers have termed, a moral 
sense, which clearly points out to him the distinction 
between right and wrong, and enables him in every 
given case to discriminate virtue from vice ; but 
that the will of the Supreme Legislator, as made 
known in his laws engraven on the conscience, con- 
stitutes the sole ground of duty and moral obli- 
gation." 

174. The philosophical system of Socrates (if 
system it may be called) was practical rather than 
theoretical or speculative. Its principal divisions 



CHAP. VIlJ ANCIENT ETHICS. 221 

have been thus arranged. " Man may either be 
considered as an individual, or as the head of a 
family, or as a member of the commonwealth. Hence 
arise the three great branches of moral science,, 
comprehended under the general terms, ethics, 
ceconomics, and politics. Each of these has its 
appropriate virtues and vices, which it is the 
business of true philosophy to discover and make 
known to mankind." It does not appear that any 
more minute classification of personal, relative, or 
social virtues was attempted by this philosopher; 
but a great variety of excellent maxims in morality 
are attributed to him on the several topics of 
Piety, Obedience to superiors, Constancy, Tem- 
perance, Liberality, Patience, Magnanimity, Truth, 
Justice, Friendship, Patriotism, with many others. 
The form in which these moral aphorisms have been 
preserved, is that of sententious answers said to have 
been given to questions proposed by his disciples 
and friends. From this peculiarity in his mode of 
communicating didactic instruction, all subsequent 
philosophers, who had recourse to dialogue, were 
said to have adopted the Socratic method ; which, 
however suited to moral and practical subjects, was 
a most inappropriate medium by which to carry on 
abstract and metaphysical reasonings. A powerful 
impulse was given to moral science by the personal 
instructions of Socrates, the effects of which were 
apparent long after his death, especially in the 
Academic sects. Many important questions con- 
nected with this department of human knowledge 
began to be agitated and publicly discussed in the 



222 ANCIENT ETHICS. [PART II. 

schools, of which the following are specimens. 
" What is the criterion of virtue ? whence is it 
derived ? and what will be its results ? What is 
good ? What the distinction between natural and 
moral good ? What the chief good ? Wherein 
does happiness consist? Is pain to be accounted 
a good or an evil ?" To these and many similar 
ethical questions, widely different answers were 
given by the Platonists, the Peripatetics, the Epicu- 
reans, and the Stoics, the distinguishing features 
of whose respective moral systems will be briefly 
adverted to in the following sections. 



Section II. 

ON THE ETHICS OF PLATO AND THE ACADEMICS. 

175. It does not appear, from the writings of 
Plato, that he formed any distinct ethical system, 
though many of his dialogues treat of moral sub- 
jects. These, it is probable, were chiefly derived 
from the didactic instructions of his illustrious pre- 
ceptor, but greatly modified and obscured by the 
metaphysical speculations in which he so freely in- 
dulged. The most important topics discussed in his 
ethical writings relate to the chief good, the nature 
of virtue, the moral influence of the passions, and 
the social duties of life. 

The Chief Good consists in the contemplation of 
mind, a term used to express the Supreme Intelli- 
gence. All the subordinate degrees of goodness are 



CHAP. VIl/] ANCIENT ETHICS. 223 

only such as they approximate to the chief good. 
That faculty of our nature by which this resem- 
blance is to be attained is Reason ; and its several 
modifications are the fair, the venerable, the amiable, 
the proportionate, and the happy. Of those things 
which men are accustomed to call good, such as 
beauty, strength, riches, and the like, none are such 
any farther than they lead to the practice of virtue. 
These are termed, by way of distinction, mortal 
good, on account of their imperfect nature and 
transitory duration ; but beatitude, or happiness, 
which was considered as the inseparable companion 
of virtue, is a divine and immortal good, worthy of 
the pursuit of intelligent beings, and producing a 
resemblance to the gods. To this chief good, the 
souls of philosophers are elevated after death ; they 
are replenished with these inexhaustible treasures ; 
they are admitted to divine entertainments ; they 
range at large amidst the boundless regions of truth, 
and look down with contempt on those who are 
satisfied with earthly shadows and unreal good. 
He alone who has attained to the knowledge of the 
first good, is happy ; and the end of this knowledge 
is to render man as like the Great Intelligence as 
human nature is capable of becoming. 

176. Virtue, according to the definition given by 
Plato, consists in resemblance to the Deity. It 
is the brightest perfection of human nature. Its 
influence extends to the whole character, and it 
constitutes the brightest ornament of man. Some of 
the virtues exert their influence on the rational, 
others on the animal, and others on the sensitive 



224 ANCIENT ETHICS. £PART II. 

parts of our nature : of the former, the cardinal 
virtue is prudence, by which was meant, the dis- 
crimination of moral good and evil ; of the second, 
temperance, or the due regulation of our desires and 
appetites ; and of the third, fortitude, or the sub- 
jection of our feelings to the command of reason 
and the dictates of conscience. From the combined 
influence and operation of these, arises a fourth car- 
dinal virtue, justice, which is chiefly exercised in the 
social relations of life. Beside this more general 
classification of virtue, many subordinate distinctions 
were made by the Platonists, such as perfect and 
imperfect, necessary and voluntary, personal and 
relative, with many others. But the most defective 
and dangerous part of the moral system of Plato 
was, that in which he taught, that all vice is 
involuntary, and consequently to be punished not 
so much on its own account, as because of the 
evil it brings on others ; while on the other hand, 
he maintained that virtue is to be pursued and 
practised for its own sake, and not merely because 
of the happiness it yields. 

177. The Passions were defined to be motions of 
the soul excited by some apparent good or evil, 
originating in the irrational parts of our nature, but 
capable of being moderated and subdued by reason. 
All the passions are reduced to two simple elements, 
pleasure and pain, or joy and grief ; — desire, fear, 
hope, and all other mental affections, are but modifica- 
tions of these. They are excited in us by nature, and 
form a part of our constitution ; but the degree of 
their excitement depends on the circumstances of the 



CHAP. VII.]] ANCIENT ETHICS. 225 

individual who is affected by them. Some of the 
passions are mild — such as pity, mercy, modesty, and 
contentment ; others violent — as anger, terror, love, 
and hatred ; while some partake of a mixed charac- 
ter. The moderate indulgence of the passions is 
virtuous — their excess alone is vicious. 

178. The social virtues are chiefly delineated in 
connexion with political maxims, and the rules laid 
down for the administration of a perfect common- 
wealth. Friendship consists, according to the Pla- 
tonic philosophy, in reciprocal benevolence. It is 
that disposition which prompts its possessor to feel 
as solicitous for the happiness of another, as his own. 
The good-will of parents to their children, and the 
affection of kindred to each other, are but different 
exhibitions of this social virtue. Love, considered 
not as a passion but a branch of social duty, was 
contemplated as of three kinds, namely, " honest, 
dishonest, and mean." The honest, or honourable, 
contemplates only the mind and its virtuous quali- 
ties ; the dishonourable aims only at sensual in- 
dulgence, and is absolutely brutish ; the mean 
regards the beauty both of the soul and body, and 
therefore occupies a mean place between the two 
former. In society, as in the human soul, there are 
three parts ; keepers, defenders, and artificers : the 
first includes chiefs and rulers, whose duty it is 
to counsel, direct, and govern, answering to the 
rational part of the human soul ; the second, war- 
riors, whose duty it is to defend the commonwealth 
by their military prowess, and therefore resemble 
the active powers or passions of the soul ; the 

Q 



226 ANCIENT ETHICS. [PART II. 

third, those who cultivate the arts, or are employed 
in the ordinary occupations of life ; and these are 
compared to the animal appetites, or the irrational 
part of the soul. The perfection of government 
was supposed to consist in each of these performing 
their appropriate offices and relative duties. 

179. From the preceding sketch it will be evident 
that the ethics of the Platonic school were partly 
derived from the maxims of Pythagoras, and partly 
from the moral lessons of Socrates, digested into a 
more regular system, and tinged with the splendid 
colouring of Plato's metaphysical genius. Dr. En- 
field justly remarks, that though many just and 
sublime sentiments on morals are found in the 
writings of Plato, his ethical doctrine is in some 
particulars defective, and in others, extravagant 
and absurd. The fanciful notions which he enter- 
tained concerning the Divine Nature, the world of 
ideas, and matter, seem to have given a romantic 
and enthusiastic turn to his conceptions on morals ; 
a defect which may be in part ascribed to his con- 
nexion with the Pythagorean school, but which was, 
perhaps, chiefly owing to the peculiar propensity of 
his genius towards metaphysical fiction. 



Section III. 

ON THE ETHICS OF ARISTOTLE AND THE PERIPATETICS. 

180. Aristotle was a disciple of Plato, a fact 
which will sufficiently account for the resemblance 



CHAP. VII.] ANCIENT ETHICS. 227 

between their moral systems ; but he was much 
more of a theorist than his illustrious preceptor, and 
this may serve to explain their principal points of 
difference. The same minuteness of classification, 
the same love of verbal distinctions, which have been 
already alluded to as characterising the dialectic 
and metaphysical writings of Aristotle, distinguish 
no less his ethical treatises, ten of which, addressed 
to his son Nichomachus, are still extant. 

The whole moral theory of Aristotle was founded 
on his metaphysical speculations, relative to the 
nature and faculties of the human soul. As he 
taught that the soul of man is partly rational and 
partly irrational — the former denoting its intellec- 
tual and judicial, and the latter its sentient and 
active powers ; so it was maintained in the Peripa- 
tetic schools, that there are two classes of virtues, 
corresponding with this arrangement of the intellec- 
tual powers. To the rational part of the soul 
belong the virtues of integrity, prudence, wisdom, 
with many others of a similar kind ; to the irra- 
tional or sensitive, belong temperance, fortitude, 
and the like. From this classification of virtue or 
moral good, arose another distinction — theoretic and 
practical: the former manifesting itself chiefly in 
deliberation, and the latter in action. Theoretic virtue 
includes in it the right use and exercise of the powers 
of the understanding ; practical, the pursuit of that 
which is right and good. Theoretic virtue is to be 
acquired by meditation; practical, by habit and 
exercise. The former of these was placed much 
higher in the scale of virtues than the latter, inas- 

Q2 



228 ANCIENT ETHICS. [PART II. 

much as reason is superior to passion, and because 
the understanding is to be accounted the noblest 
faculty of man. 

181. A further distinction was made by the Peri- 
patetics, respecting those in which the body is 
principally concerned, and those which are external 
or distinct from both. For example, that species of 
good which in the body is termed Jiealth, in the soul 
is temperance, and in externals, riches: or what in 
the body is strength, in the soul is magnanimity ; 
and in externals, power : or what in the body is 
beauty, is in the soul rectitude, or justice ; and in 
externals, friendship. Among the desirable qua- 
lities of the mind are enumerated — genius, art, wit, 
wisdom, science, prudence ; among those of the 
body, health, vigour, beauty, strength, and organic 
soundness ; and among the external advantages are 
riches, fame, power, friends, kindred, and country. 
Some kinds of good are desirable on their own 
account, others because of their influence and 
tendency ; some should be sought for our own 
sakes, and some for the advantage of others ; 
some are to be contemplated as means, others as 
ends; some are honourable — as God, or parents, 
and princes, — others laudable, as liberty and 
empire ; others profitable, as health, science, me- 
mory, &c. &c. 

182. The Passions were subdivided into three 
classes — the good, the evil, and the mean, or those 
which occupy a middle place, being in themselves 
considered neither virtuous nor vicious. Of the 
first, were enumerated, friendship, benevolence, in- 



CHAP. VII.]] ANCIENT ETHICS. 229 

dignation, shame, confidence, compassion ; of the 
second, envy, malevolence, and contumely ; of the 
last, grief, fear, anger, joy, and desire. Each of 
these was ramified into almost innumerable subor- 
dinate branches, which evince more the ingenuity 
of their inventor, than answer any valuable purpose. 
The principal, and perhaps the most important, 
feature of the moral system of Aristotle, was that 
which represented all virtue as consisting in the 
careful avoidance of every extreme, whether of 
excess or defect ; and in steadily pursuing the 
middle track. Thus, fortitude is the virtuous 
medium between hardihood and timidity ; meek- 
ness, between wrath and insensibility ; liberality, 
between prodigality and penuriousness ; magnifi- 
cence, between ostentation and meanness ; modesty, 
between impudence and bashfulness ; urbanity, be- 
tween rusticity and haughtiness ; truth, between 
detraction and boasting; and friendship, between 
dotage and enmity. By these and many similar 
examples, Aristotle inculcated on his son what 
seems to have been with him a fundamental 
principle in morals, that all virtue consisted in 
the moderate use, and all vice, in either an excess 
or defect of the same quality. 

183. With respect to happiness, it was taught 
in the Peripatetic school, that it was not to be 
sought for its own sake ; that it is the certain 
and neccessary result of a conduct conformable to 
virtue ; and that though the felicity which arises 
from the enjoyment of wealth or honours is not 
to be despised, that is incomparably superior, and 



230 ANCIENT ETHICS. JJPART II. 

may be properly designated perfect and divine, 
which springs from the performance of virtuous 
actions. 



Section IV. 

on the ethics of zeno anp the stoics. 

184. None of the ancient sects of philosophers 
boasted more of the excellence of their moral 
system, or made higher pretensions to exalted and 
disinterested virtue, than the Stoics ; and it must 
be acknowledged that some of the best maxims and 
rules of moral conduct known to the Pagan world, 
are contained in the practical works of the most 
celebrated philosophers of this sect. The principle 
on which the entire ethical system of the Stoics was 
founded, and which pervades all its parts, is, that 
" the great end of existence, and the only rule of 
virtue is, to live according to nature? that is, in con- 
formity with that irreversible law of fate by which 
all beings, divine and human, are controlled and 
governed. For since man, as was before stated, is 
a part of the Deity, and an image of the world, it 
becomes him to live as a part of the great whole, 
and accommodate all his pursuits to the general 
arrangement of nature. This principle is stated 
differently by different philosophers of this sect, but 
it perpetually recurs in one or other form, in all 
their ethical writings. Thus Chrysippus taught, 
that " men ought to live according to the experience 



CHAP. VII.3 ANCIENT ETHICS. 231 

of natural events ;" — Cleanthes, that " they should 
follow the nature common to all men ;" — Diogenes 
of Babylon,, that " they should conform to the reason 
and law of life;" — Pancetius, that "they should 
yield to the impressions of nature ;" — and Posidonius 
yet more distinctly, that " they should contemplate 
truth, follow nature, and imitate God, by making 
the eternal reason and immutable law of the universe 
the rule of their actions." Thus, to live according 
to nature, (in the Stoical acceptation of that phrase, 
which was widely different from its meaning in 
popular language,) is the essence of virtue and of 
true happiness. This general principle being pre- 
mised, all the other parts of the moral system taught 
by Zeno and his followers, obviously arise out of it. 
Appetites are innate principles according to nature. 
Passions are either morally good or evil, as they 
act in conformity with, or in opposition to, the 
great law of nature. Wisdom and virtue are those 
dictates of the understanding, and those actions 
resulting from them, which are in accordance with 
nature ; and evil, in all its various modifications, is 
that which is contrary to nature. Happiness is the 
end assuredly to be obtained by living according to 
nature. 

185. If from this general classification of the 
principal divisions of moral science, we proceed to 
a more particular detail, it will be found that this 
rule was intended to be of universal application. 
The two predominant appetites of all beings, are, 
to preserve themselves, (this being a law of their 
nature,) and to obtain those things which are 



232 ANCIENT ETHICS. [PART II. 

according to their nature,, and therefore calculated 
to impart happiness. Those affections and passions 
are virtuous and good, which urge us onward to 
the pursuit and acquisition of that which nature 
approves, or which deter us from an opposite course 
of conduct, such as constancy, joy, contentment, 
delectation, cheerfulness, equanimity, &c. On the 
contrary, those passions are vicious which are 
" preternatural motions of the soul," " inward 
commotions, averse from right reason and contrary 
to nature," such as excessive desire or fear, both of 
which are incompatible with philosophy and virtue. 
The four primary passions of this class are, grief, 
pleasure, fear, and desire, under each of which many 
others are enumerated, the indulgence of which was 
represented as indicative of weakness and vice. 
Hence arose one of the chief peculiarities of the 
Stoical system of morals, namely, that which num- 
bered pleasure and pain among things indifferent, 
which ought in no degree to affect the happiness of 
a wise man. Since pain, in its ordinary acceptation, 
is an affection of the body, and not of the mind — 
and since it is proved by experience not to be con- 
trary to the law of our nature — it is not to be 
accounted an evil ; it may, in some cases, be deemed 
a good ; and a true philosopher may be as happy 
in the midst of bodily torture, as on beds of down. 

186. The virtues were divided by the Stoics, as 
well as the Peripatetics, into two classes, the con- 
templative and the practical, some of which are 
primary, and others subordinate. The primary are, 
prudence, temperance, fortitude, and justice, each of 



CHAP. VII.] ANCIENT ETHICS. 233 

which has many others proceeding from it, as streams 
from a fountain. The contemplative virtues relate 
to truth ; the practical, to the conduct of life. But 
the most remarkable and pernicious part of their 
moral system, was that which asserted the equality 
of all virtues and vices. As there is no medium 
between a straight line and a curve, so it was 
maintained, that every virtuous action, being in 
exact conformity with the law of nature, must be 
alike good ; and every vicious act, being a deviation 
from nature, must be alike evil. This tenet of 
the Stoics formed a most vulnerable part of their 
system, and furnished a frequent theme of ridicule 
to the satirical poets. 

Under the head of Offices, or relative duties, 
many useful and many trifling distinctions were 
introduced. The general classification of moral 
duties was both just and natural, being all included 
in those which respect God, mankind, and ourselves ; 
but in the minute detail of these relative duties, the 
miserable deficiency of Pagan morality abundantly 
appears, since they originated in pride and selfish- 
ness, and led, in their practical results, to duplicity, 
dissimulation, and impiety. 



Section V. 

ON THE ETHICS OF THE EPICUREAN SECT. 

187. The next of the Grecian sects, whose moral 
system claims particular attention, both on account 



234 ANCIENT ETHICS. [PART II. 

of its celebrity, and its influence on the state of 
society during a long series of ages, is that of 
Epicurus. It has been generally represented as the 
most exceptionable, both in principle and practice, 
of all the ethical systems of antiquity. How far 
this statement is justified by facts, will appear from 
the following summary of its distinguishing tenets. 

Epicurus taught that happiness is the great end 
of life, that which should be constantly pursued for 
its own sake, and to which every other consideration 
should be subordinate ; that the reason why men 
fail in their pursuit of this object is, that they 
mistake its nature, and the source from which alone 
it can be derived : — that the highest degree of hap- 
piness to which man can attain, is that state, in 
which the greatest measure of physical good, and 
the least of physical evil, is experienced: — that 
pleasure being in its own nature a good, and pain 
an evil, the one is to be pursued to the utmost, and 
the other avoided ; not, however, as it relates to 
single actions or individual character, but with 
reference to the whole course of human existence 
and the general mass of society: — that the use of 
the rational faculties of our nature chiefly consists 
in forming this estimate correctly, so as to make a 
wise choice, by preferring that which, on the whole, 
will yield the highest enjoyment, or by which we 
may avoid a greater degree of pain and suffering. 
The Epicurean doctrine concerning happiness, thus 
interpreted, may perhaps be considered (in theory 
at least) as not more objectionable than any other 
of the heathen ethical systems ; but in practice it 



CHAP. VII.] ANCIENT ETHICS. 235 

became highly injurious, subversive alike of social 
and private virtue, an incentive to every crime, 
and a pander to every species of profligacy and 
licentiousness. 

188. The Epicurean philosophers further main- 
tained, that pleasure is of two kinds, which are 
essentially distinct in their nature, and the sources 
from which they proceed. The one consists in rest, 
both bodily and mental, in a state of perfect and 
uninterrupted quiescence ; the other in excitement 
and emotion, in vivid sensations and highly impas- 
sioned feelings of the mind. The former of these was 
considered most desirable and excellent, because 
according best with the intellectual part of our 
nature, which far excels the sensitive animal. No 
good attainable by man is, therefore, to be accounted 
greater than bodily ease combined with mental 
tranquillity. Arguing on these premises, Epicurus 
taught, that the practice of virtue is essential to true 
enjoyment, because that alone can induce serenity of 
mind and intellectual repose ; that a steady course 
of virtuous conduct will, on the whole, secure the 
greatest possible degree of felicity ; that, as the 
neglect of temperance, continence, and similar 
virtues, leads to pain and disease of body, so to dis- 
regard prudence, fortitude, justice, and the like, is 
to ensure mental anxiety and suffering. On the 
same ground, moderation was recommended in the 
pursuit of riches and honour; the regulation and 
subjection of the turbulent passions were enjoined ; 
the exercise of the social virtues of compassion, 
benevolence, sympathy, and gratitude, was incul- 



236 ANCIENT ETHICS. [PART II. 

cated, as yielding the most pleasurable emotions, 
without disturbing the tranquillity of the soul. 

189. The basis of the system being thus laid in 
inculcating the pursuit of happiness as the great 
end of life, and the practice of virtue as the surest 
means of obtaining it, the philosophers of this sect 
proceeded to a classification of the private and 
social virtues. In common with many other sects, 
they considered Prudence, Temperance, Fortitude, 
and Justice, as the four cardinal virtues. 

Prudence, which consists in the regulation of 
human conduct, so as to secure the greatest possible 
amount of enjoyment, was subdivided into private, 
domestic, and civil ; or that which relates to ourselves, 
to our families, and to the commonwealth. Tem- 
perance, which consists in self-government, was also 
variously modified ; so as to include sobriety, in 
opposition to gluttony and drunkenness ; continence, 
as opposed to sensuality and impure desires ; meek- 
ness, as opposed to the sallies of anger and un- 
bridled passion ; modesty and humility, as opposed 
to ambition ; and moderation, or contentment with 
mediocrity, as opposed to avarice in all its forms 
and degrees. Fortitude, which consists in the de- 
termined pursuit of whatever is honourable and of 
good report, was contemplated as connected with 
piety or the fear of the gods ; and as counteracting 
and controlling the fear of death, of bodily suffer- 
ing, and of mental anxiety or discontent. Justice 
was considered as a social virtue, prompting to 
whatever is right and just between man and man. 
Under this head were included humanity, bene- 



CHAP. VII.^ ANCIENT ETHICS. 237 

ficence, gratitude, piety, and friendship. All of these 
were enjoined as essential to that tranquillity of 
mind, which constitutes the highest enjoyment of 
which our nature is capable. No reference, how- 
ever, was made by the founder or the followers of 
this infidel sect to a future state, since present 
felicity was the only good of which they seemed to 
have formed any conception. 

190. If the preceding summary of the ethical 
doctrines of the ancient Epicureans be correct (and 
it is gathered from their own writings), it will be 
perceived, that it was not in itself that licentious 
system which many have imagined, or which it was 
represented to be by the advocates of other rival 
systems. It rests, indeed, wholly on the selfish 
principle ; it urges no motives but those which are 
drawn from the desire of self gratification : but, as 
Dr. Enfield has justly observed, " it differs from the 
rigid system of the Stoics more in words than in 
reality; both maintained that virtue is happiness, 
though the one considered it but as a means, and the 
other as the end ; the one represented happiness as 
the necessary result and infallible reward of virtue, 
while the other exhibited it as the grand motive to 
its habitual exercise." But whatever may have been 
the moral system of Epicurus, it is certain that the 
latter philosophers of his sect justified every species 
of crime, which promised present enjoyment ; and 
that the system degenerated, in the more luxurious 
and corrupt periods of Grecian and Roman history, 
into habits of the grossest sensuality and volup- 
tuousness. . 



238 ANCIENT ETHICS. JJPART II. 

Section VI. 

ON THE ETHICAL SYSTEM OF THE ECLECTICS. 

191. A brief account has been given, in a former 
section, of the rise of the Eclectic sect at Alexandria, 
about the commencement of the third century, and 
an outline presented of the metaphysical specula- 
tions of the principal philosophers of that school. 
Before we close our review of the moral systems of 
antiquity, it is requisite to advert to that of the 
Eclectics. Here, however, it will be necessary to 
distinguish between the moral doctrines of those 
Alexandrian philosophers, who had embraced Chris- 
tianity, and were of course familiar with the Jewish 
and Christian Scriptures, (of which number were 
Origen, Clemens Alexandrinus, and several others 
of the Greek fathers,) and those who still adhered 
to paganism, and were, in some instances, the bit- 
terest and most determined enemies of the christian 
faith. The ethical doctrines, found in the writings 
of the first of these classes, may be considered 
as a somewhat adulterated species of christian 
morality. They were the precepts of revelation 
corrupted and debased by being amalgated with the 
Ammonian philosophy ; on the other hand, those of 
the second class were the ethics of Plato, Pythagoras, 
Zoroaster, or Confucius, elevated, and in some 
degree purified, by having been brought into con- 
tact with the christian revelation. For, however 
inveterate may have been the enmity of Celsus, 
Porphyry, and other infidels of ancient or modern 



CHAP. VII.]] ANCIENT ETHICS. 239 

times, against the gospel, it will be found that they 
derived their best moral maxims and rules of vir- 
tuous conduct from those very Scriptures, which they 
affected to despise as cunningly devised fables. 

192. The following sketch of the ethical opinions 
of the Eclectic philosophers has been collected by 
Dr. Enfield, chiefly from the writings of Porphyry, 
and may suffice, though brief, for our present 
purpose. 

" The mind of man, originally a portion of the 
divine nature, having fallen into a state of darkness 
and defilement by its union with the body, is to be 
gradually emancipated from the chain of matter, 
and, by contemplating real existences, to rise to the 
knowledge and vision of God. The great end of 
philosophy is, therefore, the liberation of the soul 
from its corporeal imprisonment. This can only be 
effected by the practice of virtue. For this purpose 
it must pass through the several stages of the hu- 
man and divine virtues. Human virtues are either 
physical, ceconomical, or political ; that is, they either 
relate to the body, or to the offices of domestic and 
social life. The divine virtues are of three kinds, 
purgative, theoretic, and theurgic ; the first consists 
in bodily abstinence and voluntary mortifications ; 
the second includes all those exercises of the intellect 
and imagination, by which the mind contemplates 
abstract truth and intelligible natures ; the third 
includes those religious exercises by which the phi- 
losopher is qualified for, and admitted to, an imme- 
diate intercourse with the superior beings, attains a 
power over daemons, and rises so far above the ordi- 



240 ANCIENT ETHICS. [PART II. 

nary condition of humanity, as to enjoy the vision of 
God in this life, and to return at death to the divine 
mind whence it first proceeded." 

198. Nor was this moral system merely specu- 
lative. The principal founders of the Eclectic sect 
inculcated on their disciples the practical observance 
of their didactic rules. They required of them to 
submit to many acts of self-denial and bodily mor- 
tification, as evidences of their supposed piety and 
elevated virtue. The mass of the people might 
follow the dictates of nature, or become the slaves 
of their animal appetites ; but philosophers were 
expected to be more sublimated in their disposi- 
tions and habits. They were, by the aid of medi- 
tation, to rise above all terrestrial things, and 
commune with the world of spirits. They were, 
by frequent fastings and voluntary privations and 
sufferings, to subjugate the body, in order that the 
emancipated spirit might, even in the present state 
of existence, be so purified and refined, as to hold 
communion with the Deity, to converse with in- 
visible existences, and, by their aid, to perform many 
wonderful works. This was the substance of that 
mystical theory which was communicated to the 
initiated, under the name of the theurgic art; which 
was evidently derived from oriental systems of phi- 
losophy, and which, combined with the profession of 
Christianity, produced, in subsequent ages, myriads 
of monks and ascetics, and led to all the rigorous 
austerities of popish devotees. 



PART III. 

THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY & SCIENCE 
DURING THE MIDDLE AGES. 



CHAPTER I. 

INTRODUCTORY. 

Sect. I. 

CAUSES OF THE DECAY OF LITERATURE. 

194. The portion of time usually designated 
" the middle ages," includes a space of not less than 
a thousand years, extending from the dismember- 
ment and subversion of the gigantic empire of Rome, 
which took place towards the close of the fifth cen- 
tury, to the revival of letters, which occurred about 
the end of the fifteenth century, and constitutes the 
most memorable sera in the history of the human 
mind. However fraught this long interval may 
have been with political revolutions, by which 
ancient dynasties were overthrown, the face of 
Europe and Asia changed, and the state of society, 
throughout the world, materially affected ; to the 
intellectual inquirer, whose object it is to mark the 
operations of mind, and the progress of knowledge, 
it presents little more than a barren and dreary 
waste. Of the first five centuries, scarcely any 

R 



242 DECAY OF LITERATURE. [PART III. 

thing can be recorded, in connexion with the his- 
tory of literature and science, except the names 
of a few individuals, who maintained an unequal 
struggle with the ignorance and barbarism that 
surrounded them, leaving behind them, in their 
voluminous writings, the memorials of their patient 
and persevering, though misapplied, industry in the 
pursuit of knowledge. The latter half of the period 
to be reviewed is scarcely less barren, except that 
some indications may be perceived, as we advance, 
of the gradual approach of a brighter sera, and of 
the emancipation of the human mind from the 
trammels by which it had been long enslaved. As 
there is little during this protracted period of in- 
tellectual darkness on which the mind can dwell 
with satisfaction, we shall pass over it as rapidly as 
possible, gleaning, as we proceed, the few scattered 
facts bearing upon our present object, which the 
annals of Europe or Asia may present. 

195. The same gradation which may be perceived 
in all the operations of nature, and which scientific 
men in modern times have designated " the law of 
continuity," characterizes the history of mind. The 
transition is not found to be instantaneous from 
barbarism to refinement, or from refinement to 
barbarism. The human mind does not pass at 
once from a high degree of intellectual eminence, 
like that to which it had attained during the best 
days of Grecian and Roman history, to an abject 
state of mental captivity, like that to which it was 
reduced during the middle ages. The process was 
gradual, though rapid, by which this melancholy 



CHAP. 1.3 DECAY OF LITERATURE. 243 

revolution was effected. The causes were numerous 
which operated to produce it; and the successive 
stages of deterioration may be distinctly traced from 
the reign of the Antonines, (when it may be con- 
sidered as commencing,) to the rise of the Saracenic 
empire, when the work of desolation was completed. 
There were a few men of eminence, both as phi- 
losophers and scholars, who flourished during the 
third and two following centuries. Some of these 
were mentioned in a former section of this work ; 
men who were characterized more by patient labour 
and unwearied application, than by inventive and 
original genius. They were usefully and laboriously 
employed in compilations from the works of the 
ancients ; but they will bear no comparison in in- 
tellectual attainments with the brilliant luminaries of 
preceding ages. Such were — Ptolemy, the far-famed 
astronomer ; Pappus and Proclus, who commented 
on the works of Euclid ; Ammonius, Porphyry, 
Aphrodiscus, JEgeus, with many others of the 
Eclectic sect, who wrote commentaries on the me- 
taphysics of Plato and Aristotle ; not excepting even 
the Christian fathers, Origen, Tertullian, Clemens 
Alexandrinus, and Jerome. These were chiefly 
connected with the Alexandrian school, which 
proved the last refuge of declining literature, and 
where the arts and sciences continued for a time to 
languish and decay, until at length, like withered 
plants, they were plucked up and trodden under 
foot by the Impostor of Mecca and his descendants. 
196. It falls not within the limits of the present 
work, to examine minutely into the causes which 

r 2 



244 DECAY OF LITERATURE. [PART III. 

produced this catastrophe ; but it is requisite 
briefly to enumerate a few, out of many, to which 
it may be distinctly traced. The more immediate 
and apparent cause to which this melancholy change 
is to be attributed, was (as has been already in- 
timated) the rise of the Saracenic empire in the 
East, and the consequent dispersion of the men of 
science, who still flourished at Alexandria. " All the 
cultivators of the arts and sciences," says a modern 
writer, when describing the history of this period, 
46 who had assembled from every nation in Alexan- 
dria, were driven away with ignominy. Some fell 
beneath the sword of the Arabian conquerors ; others 
fled into remote countries, to drag out the residue 
of their days in want and obscurity. The buildings 
which had been erected, and the instruments pre- 
pared at great expense for the purpose of making 
astronomical observations, were involved in one 
common destruction. And at length, to complete 
the wreck, that precious depository of knowledge, 
the library of the Ptolemies, which had suffered 
greatly by fire in the time of Julius Cgesar, was 
now utterly consumed. The Khalif Omar directed 
all its books to be burned, because, said he, if they 
agree with the Khoran, they are useless ; if they 
differ from it, they are pernicious and blasphemous, 
and, as such, should be held in universal detestation ; 
an argument well worthy of a fanatical robber."* 

197. But there were also many more remote or 
collateral causes contributing to the same event, 

* Bossut's Hist, of Mathem. p. 152. 



CHAP. I.] DECAY OF LITERATURE. 245 

some of which preceded, and others were contem- 
porary with that alluded to in the preceding 
paragraph. Such were — the disorganized state 
of society, and general corruption of manners, in 
the latter periods of Roman history — the pre- 
judices entertained by many of the fathers of the 
Christian Church against heathen literature — 
the progress of superstition — the rise of monastic 
institutions — the ambition, ignorance, and vices of 
the clergy— the imprisonment of the works of the 
ancients in monastic libraries, whence they were 
seldom permitted to emerge, and where they were 
disregarded and forgotten — the exclusion of the 
laity, however exalted their rank and station in 
society, from the advantages of education, and all 
other means of intellectual improvement — the disuse 
of the Latin and Greek languages, as the medium 
of communication between men of letters — the 
despotism of a few names, such as those of Aristotle 
and Augustine, whose works alone were sanctioned 
by the ecclesiastical rulers. These, with many 
other cooperating circumstances of a similar kind, 
are more than sufficient to account for the in- 
tellectual darkness that overspread the world, at 
the period under review. 

198. But in this tremendous struggle between 
civilization and barbarism, between knowledge and 
ignorance, the former ultimately prevailed. A 
partial revival of letters, or at least their preservation 
from total ruin, may be traced to the very people 
who had threatened their existence, and endeavoured 
to effect their destruction. After the lapse of about 



246 SCIENTIFIC PHILOSOPHERS. [PART III* 

a century from the rise of the Saracenic empire, a 
succession of Khalifs arose who patronized learning, 
and collected at Bagdad, the principal seat of 
empire, a considerable body of philosophers and 
mathematicians. The latter were chiefly held in 
estimation, on account of the intimate connexion 
which was perceived to exist between the abstract 
sciences and practical astronomy ; a branch of 
physical knowledge to which the oriental nations 
had been from the earliest ages passionately de- 
voted, not so much for its own sake, as from a 
belief that the knowledge of the stars would enable 
them to prognosticate future events,* 



Section II. 

ARRANGED LIST OF THE PHYSICAL AND INTELLECTUAL 
PHILOSOPHERS OF THE MIDDLE AGES. 

199. In this division of the work, instead of at- 
tempting so minute a classification as that adopted 
in the preceding pages, it will be sufficient to arrange 
the scanty materials with which we are furnished, 
under two general heads ; the first including the 
History of Physical Science during the middle 
ages ; and the second, that of Intellectual and Moral 
Science j for the same period. It may not, however, 
be unacceptable to the juvenile reader, before en- 
tering on this retrospect, to be furnished with a 

* Gibbon's Decline and Fall, Vol. V. p. 423—425. 



CHAP. I.] SCIENTIFIC PHILOSOPHERS. 



247 



list of the principal philosophers and men of science 
who flourished between the sixth and sixteenth 
centuries. 



CLASS I.— SCIENTIFIC PHILOSOPHERS. 



ASIATICS. 



A. D. 

Geber . 650 

Al-mansor, Khalif of Bagdad 760 

Al-haroun ibid 800 

Al-mairaon ibid 830 

Albumasar . . . Bagdad . . 840 

Alfragan ibid 850 

Thebit ibid 850 

Alkendi ibid 860 

Albategni .... ibid 900 

Alfarabi ibid 950 

Mohammed . . . (Ben Musa) 950 

Ebn Younis . . Egypt 960 

Abul-Wefa ... Bagdad .. 980 

Avicenna .... Bochara.. 1000 

Geber (Ben Aphla) 1040 



Arsachel 
Mohammed . 
Averroes . . . 

Alhazen 

Albaithar . . . 
Maimonides . 
Alcazuini . . . 
EbnFadhl... 
Ebn Aluam . 



Toledo .. 
Bagdad . . 
Corduba. . 

ibid 

Malaga . , 
Corduba. , 
Persia . , 
Egypt... 
Corduba . 



Albiruni Persia, 

Abulfleda ....(J? amah > in l 
L Syria ) 



Nassar Eddin 
Ulugh Beg . . . 



Persia. , 
Tartary 



1040 
1100 
1130 
1150 
1160 
1160 
1250 
ibid, 
ibid, 
ibid. 

1325 

1400 
1430 



EUROPEANS. A. D. 

Gerbert Sylvester II. 950 



Leonardo de . . Pisa .... 

Albert Ratisbon 

Jordanus (Nem.) . 

John (Sacrobosco)Halifax . 
Campanus de Novara . 
Gerard Cremona 



Frederic II. . . 

Grostfeste 

Simon de .... 
Roger Bacon. . 
Alphonsus II. 



1200 
1240 
1250 
ibid, 
ibid, 
ibid, 
ibid. 



Germany 
Bp. of Line. ibid. 
Tournay . . ibid. 
Ilchester 1260 
Kg. Castile ibid. 



Vitello Poland.. 1270 

Peter the .... Dane 1285 

Richard de . . . Swineshead 1330 

Wallingford . . 1350 

Ulsman Strame Nuremberg ibid. 

Lucas (de Burgo) 1400 



Nicholas . . . 
Laurentius. .- . 
P. Schoeffer . 
John Faustus 
Purbach . . . 



(de Cusa) 1445 
Haarlem. . 1445 
Strasburg 
Mentz. . . 
Vienna . 



1450 
1450 
1450 
1470 



Regiomontanus Rome... 

Walther Nuremberg 1480 

Werner ibid ibid. 

Benedetto Italy ibid. 

Bianchini .... ibid ibid. 

Angeio Florence., ibid. 

Ferdinand.... Cordova., ibid. 

Bernard Granolachi ibid. 



248 



DIALECTICIANS AND SCHOLASTICS. [PART III. 



CLASS II. 
DIALECTICIANS AND SCHOLASTICS. 



I. Between a. d. 500 and a. d. 1000. 



Flourished. 

Cassiodorus . „ 510 

Boethius Athens. . . . ibid. 

Simplicius .... 550 

Gild as ibid. 

John of Alexandria 620 

Isidore Seville .... ibid. 

Bede Jarrow 720 

Joannes (Damascenus) 770 

Alcuin York 770 

R. Maurus Mentz 830 

Photius Constantinople 850 

Psellus, Sen. . . ibid 850 

Joannes Scotus, sum. Erigona 860 

Leo Constantinople 880 

ibid, 
ibid, 
ibid, 
ibid. 
890 
900 
920 
940 
ibid' 
ibid. 



Eustrathius . . . ibid 

Nicephorus . . . ibid 

Magentinus . . Mitylene 

Hincraar Rheims . . . 

Grimbald .... 

Winfrid 

Bridfurth .... 

Dunstan .... Abp. Cant. 

Remigius .... Auxerre . 

Constantine . . Paris .... 



Abbo St. Germain ibid. 

Nanno Friesland . . ibid. 

Baldric Vienna. . . . ibid. 

Gerbert (P. Sylvest.II.) 950 

Herman Mentz .... 980 



II. Between a. d. 1000 and a. v. 1500, 

SCHOLASTICS OF THE FIRST PERIOD. 
Flourished. 

Lanfranc .„. .Abp. of Cant. 1055 
Berenger .... Cologne . . 1080 

Fulbert Paris .... ibid. 

Bruno Cologne . . ibid. 

Anselm Abp. of Cant. 1100 

Roscelline Brittany . . ibid. 

Champeaux . . Paris .... ibid. 

Abelard ibid 1120 

P. Lombard . . ibid 1150 

Porretan .... Poictiers . . ibid. 

John of Salisbury. .1160 

Hales Glocester. . 1200 

THE SECOND PERIOD. 

Albert (Mag.).. Cologne .. 1250 
Bonaventure . . Tuscany . . ibid. 
Thomas Aquinas Cologne . . ibid. 
Grosteste . . . .Bp. of Lincoln ibid. 
Roger Bacon.. Ilchester. . 1260 
Columna .... Paris .... ibid. 
Robert de Sorbonne, Paris . . ibid. 
Duns Scotus . . Oxford, &c. 1290 

Mayro Paris .... ibid. 

Arnaud de . . Ville Neuf . ibid. 

THE THIRD PERIOD. 

Occam Oxford .. 1320 

Durand Clermont . ibid. 

Burley ibid. 

Raymond Lully Majorca . . ibid. 

Wickliffe .... Lutterworth 1360 
Petrarch .... Tuscany . . ibid. 
Argyropulus, Constantinople 1440 

Chrysoloras . . ibid ibid. 

Wessel Groningen 1450 

Laur. de Valla Rome ibid. 

Politian de . . Tuscany . . ibid. 

Pletho Constantinople 1480 

Lascaris Florence . . ibid. 



CHAP. II.^ ARABIAN MATHEMATICIANS. 249 



CHAPTER II. 

THE HISTORY OF PHYSICAL SCIENCE DURING THE 
MIDDLE A GES. 



Section I. 

ON THE REVIVAL OF MATHEMATICAL KNOWLEDGE 
AMONG THE ARABIANS. 

200. Little more than a century had elapsed from 
the establishment of the Saracenic empire by the 
military prowess of Mohammed, before those very 
arts and sciences began to be successfully cultivated 
at Bagdad, under the patronage of the Khalifs, 
which had been proscribed and ignominiously 
banished from Alexandria by the barbarous foun- 
ders of that empire. Many valuable remains of 
antiquity had fallen into the hands of the con- 
querors, which, though at first little regarded, and 
even held in the utmost contempt, began by degrees 
to be studied, admired, and translated into their 
vernacular tongue. Among these were the works 
of the most celebrated Greek mathematicians, the 
study of which had the effect of exciting a taste for 
the abstract sciences, hitherto unknown in that part 
of the world. 

201. To some of the Arabian mathematicians of 
the middle ages, Europe is indebted for most valu- 
able improvements in arithmetic. The invention of 



250 ARABIAN MATHEMATICIANS. [[PART III. 

this useful and important science has been traced 
to very remote antiquity, though it cannot with 
certainty be determined in what sera, or among 
what people, it originated. Several distinct periods 
can also be pointed out in which the art of numeri- 
cal calculation underwent material improvements. 
Among these may be particularly noticed the sera 
of Nicomachus, who was a contemporary of Euclid, 
and wrote a highly scientific treatise on the theory 
of numbers ; and that of Claudius Ftolemceus, who 
flourished about a.d. 200, and is said to have in- 
vented the sexagesimal arithmetic, or the method of 
calculating both integral and fractional quantities 
by sixties. But the most valuable improvement in 
arithmetical science was introduced, if not invented, 
by the mathematicians of Arabia about the eighth 
century. The contrivance to which we refer is, the 
method of decimal notation, or that by which each 
figure in the decimal scale is made to change its 
signification and power, as its position is changed, 
being increased in value tenfold for every place that 
it advances towards the left hand. There is no 
reason to believe that this method of notation was 
known either to the oriental arithmeticians, or to 
those of Greece and Rome ; but several Arabic MSS. 
of the eighth and ninth centuries, still extant, prove 
it to have been a mode of calculation then generally 
adopted. Gerbert, a monk of the Low Countries, 
(who was afterwards raised to the pontifical chair, 
and assumed the title of Sylvester II.), resided for 
a considerable time among the Saracens in Spain, 
for the purpose of becoming acquainted with this 



CHAP. II.]] ARABIAN MATHEMATICIANS. 251 

new system of arithmetic, and by him the know- 
ledge of the art was communicated, about a. d. 960, 
to the mathematicians of Europe. 

202. It has been much disputed whether Algebra 
was invented, or only improved, by the Arabians. 
Some highly respectable authorities (among whom 
were Cardan and Wallis) incline to the former 
opinion ; while others, whose authority is at least 
equal to theirs, have contended for the latter. 
Professor Playfair, in his elaborate Dissertation on 
the Origin and Progress of Mathematical Science, 
prefixed to the supplementary numbers of a late 
edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, asserts, 
that " the knowledge of algebra was unquestionably 
transmitted to Europe by the Arabs ; but its in- 
vention must be sought for much farther to the 
East, probably not nearer than Hindostan." This is 
even admitted by the Arabic writers themselves ; for 
it is stated in some of their MSS. works on this 
science, that Mohammed Ben Musa (to whom we 
shall have occasion again to advert as the most 
eminent of the Arabian mathematicians) travelled 
into India, about a.d. 959, for the purpose of re- 
ceiving further instruction in algebraic science. The 
difference between the algebra of Diophantus, who 
published a treatise on this subject, in the Greek lan- 
guage, about a.d. 800, and that of the Arabs, both 
with respect to the terms employed, and their method 
of notation, is so great, as to prove that the knowledge 
they respectively possessed of this science must have 
been derived from different sources ; and that either 
the algebra of the latter was self-invented, or derived 



252 ARABIAN MATHEMATICIANS. (jPART III. 

from a source with which Diophantus was wholly 
unacquainted. It is not easy, from the want of 
sufficient materials on which a judgment may be 
founded, to determine what progress was actually 
made by the Arabian arithmeticians in algebra. 
M. Bossut affirms, that "there are indications in 
some existing Arabic MSS. that they advanced as 
far as to the solution of equations of the third and 
even fourth order, in which they advanced beyond 
Diophantus, who did not resolve any beyond the 
second." The Leyden Library, he adds, contains 
an Arabic MSS. entitled, " The Algebra of Cubic 
Equations." 

203. The most important service rendered by 
the Arabian mathematicians to geometrical science, 
consists in their preservation of many works of the 
ancients, which, but for them, had inevitably been 
lost to posterity. Some of these are still only 
known to Europeans through the medium of Arabic 
versions ; but with respect to others, the originals, 
which were long supposed to have perished, have 
been brought to light by the researches of scientific 
men in later ages. The " Elements" of Euclid, the 
treatises of Archimedes " on the Sphere and Cylin- 
der," the " Spherics" of Theodosius, the treatise of 
Menelaus on " Spherical Triangles," and the " Conic 
Sections" of Apollonius Pergoeus, were all perpetu- 
ated and handed down to posterity by their means ; 
and with respect to the last of the above-mentioned 
works, the fifth, sixth, and seventh books have never 
appeared in their original form, but were printed in 
an Arabic version at Florence, a.d. 1661. 



CHAP. II.3 ARABIAN MATHEMATICIANS. 253 

204. Next to the preservation of the labours of 
ancient geometricians, may be mentioned the pro- 
gress made by the Arabians themselves in trigono- 
metrical science. This was, perhaps, the most 
defective part of the geometry of the ancients ; but 
the Arabian mathematicians of the middle ages first 
applied to this department of science the simple 
and commodious method of calculation which is now 
generally adopted. They reduced the resolution 
both of plain and spherical triangles to a small num- 
ber of simple propositions ; and by introducing the 
practice of measuring them by sines, instead of 
double arcs, rendered calculations, in themselves ex- 
tremely complicated and difficult, perfectly simple 
and easy. These important improvements in geo- 
metrical science are chiefly attributed to Albategni, 
or Geber, the son of Mahomet, an Arabian prince, 
(who flourished about a.d. 880,) who, though most 
celebrated as an astronomer, greatly promoted the 
science of trigonometry, by the introduction of sines, 
versed sines, tangents, and secants ; — to Mohammed 
(Ben Musa), who flourished about the middle of 
the tenth century, and wrote a work, still extant, 
on " The Measurement of Plain and Spherical 
Figures ;" — to Geber (Ben Aphla), a mathematician 
and astronomer of the eleventh century, who is best 
known by his laborious and scientific commentary 
on the works of Ptolemy; — and, more than all, to 
Ebn Jounis, who flourished under the Khalif 
Hakem, (about 1050,) who most successfully applied 
the sexagesimal arithmetic, then in use, to compli- 
cated trigonometrical calculations and measure- 



254 ARABIAN ASTRONOMERS. [PART III. 

ments.* To these may be added, an elaborate and 
elegant work on " Practical Geometry," written, at 
a somewhat later period, by Mohammed of Bagdad ; 
a treatise, which some modern writers, who are un- 
willing to attribute any inventive powers to the 
Arabians, have ascribed, though without any ade- 
quate reason, to Euclid. 



Section II. 

ON THE ARABIAN ASTRONOMERS OF THE MIDDLE AGES. 

205. From the time of Ptolemy, who may be 
considered as the last of the ancient astronomers, 
this sublime science, so far from having advanced 
in any part of Europe or Asia, evidently retrograded 
and almost disappeared, till nearly the close of the 
eighth century, when a partial revival of literature 
and science in general, but especially of astronomy, 
took place under the auspices of several of the 
Saracenic Khalifs, who were both distinguished 
patrons of learning, and scientific philosophers of 
no mean reputation. (1.) The first of these was 
Abou Giafar, surnamed Al-Mansor, or the Vic- 
torious, who reigned about a. d. 760. The period 
during which this Saracenic Chief presided over 
the Arabian empire, forms the epoch in which an 
impulse was given to science, the effects of which 
were apparent many centuries after his death. The 

* Vide Leslie's Elements of Geometry, pp.373, 374. 



CHAP. IlJ ARABIAN ASTRONOMERS. 255 

principal object which engaged the attention of the 
Khalif, and to which all the time which he could 
spare from public business was devoted, was, the 
regulation of the calendar by an accurate observation 
of the motions and revolutions of the sun and moon. 
Aided by the astronomers whom he gathered around 
him from all parts of the world, he determined the 
degree of the obliquity of the ecliptic to be nearly 
the same as the more accurate observations of modern 
science have proved it to be ; a discovery which is 
the more remarkable, on account of the imperfection 
of the astronomical instruments then in use, the 
telescope not having been as yet invented. (2.) 
Al-Haroun, the grandson and successor of Al- 
Mansor, who reigned from a. d. 786 to 809, and his 
son, Al-Maimon, who held the caliphate from a. d. 
813 to 833, carried on with much zeal and assiduity 
the literary projects of their ancestor. They became 
eminent astronomers, as well as liberal patrons of 
the arts. The former of these princes, though 
chiefly celebrated as a most ingenious mechanician, 
(and who will therefore be more properly noticed 
hereafter,) was no mean proficient in the science of 
astronomy ; but the latter was its most munificent 
patron and zealous promoter. He seems to have 
been early imbued with the love of science, by the 
example and instructions of his preceptor and phy- 
sician, who professed the Christian religion ; # and 

* Of the literary character of this preceptor of Al-Maimon, 
the following account is given by Berrington, in his History of the 
Middle Ages : — " When the son of Mesuach, a young Nestorian 
Christian, retiring from his own country, first entered Bagdad, he 



256 ARABIAN ASTRONOMERS. [PART III. 

from the time of his accession to the hour of his 
death, continued to exert his utmost influence for 
the advancement of the arts and sciences. He 
caused all the Greek MSS. on scientific objects, 
which he could procure, to be translated ; parti- 
cularly Ptolemy's Almagest, alluded to in a former 
section, as containing a valuable digest of ancient 
astronomy. He appropriated much of that wealth, 
which his predecessors had accumulated, to the 
purchase of ancient MSS., to the erection of mag- 
nificent observatories, and to the construction of 
costly instruments for mathematical and astronomical 
purposes. Many observations were made by himself 
in his hours of leisure ; but a far greater number 
by the men of science whom he summoned to his 
court from distant provinces. Among the important 
astronomical undertakings of this reign, the prin- 
cipal were — to verify the observations made by the 
preceding Khalif, relative to the obliquity of the 
ecliptic — to measure a degree of the earth, both on 
the plains of Sinaar and those of Cusa (by which 
it was determined that the entire circumference of 
the globe amounted to 24,000 miles)—- and to com- 
pile from all the astronomical works of antiquity 

appeared to have discovered a new world. He saw that the fol- 
lowers of Christ and of Mahomet were there engaged in the 
pursuit of the liberal arts. Here then he remained, applying 
himself to medicine, philosophy, and astronomy. His acquire- 
ments became great, and his knowledge of languages extensive; 
whence, himself being a treasure of learning, he was chosen to 
attend on Prince Al-Maimon, the son of the Caliph Al-Raschid, 
and to accompany him on an important embassy." — P. 647. 



CHAP. Il/] ARABIAN ASTRONOMERS. 257 

a complete digest of the science,, in a work still 
existing, though of great rarity, entitled " Astronomia 
elaborata a compluribus DD., Jussu regis Maimon." 

206. Our first attention having been paid to the 
royal astronomers of this age, it is requisite next 
to advert to those of inferior station, but probably 
of far superior science, who flourished under their 
auspices, or about the same period. The most dis- 
tinguished of these, (as far as a judgment can now 
be formed respecting them, either by their writings 
or the brief notices of ancient historians,) were 
Alfragan, Thebit, Albategni, and Alkendi. 

(1.) Alfragan, who flourished a. d. 850, is best 
known as the author of a work, entitled " Elements 
of Astronomy," which was considered at the time, 
and long continued to be esteemed, a standard work 
in that department of science. He wrote also 
treatises on " Solar Clocks and the Astrolabe," which 
still exist in MS. On account of the facility with 
which he made the most difficult and complicated 
arithmetical and algebraic calculations, he was de- 
signated by his contemporaries, the Calculator, 

(2.) Thebit was nearly contemporary with the 
last-mentioned astronomer. Though none of his 
writings have been discovered, it may be gathered, 
from the testimony of others, that he rendered im- 
portant services to astronomical science " by his 
attentive observations on the sun's motion, with 
relation to the fixed stars ; thus determining, with a 
precision which is most remarkable, the length of 
the solar and sidereal years." He was, however, 
misled by the Ptolemaic system, the only one then 



258 ARABIAN ASTRONOMERS. [PART III. 

known ; and in order to reconcile his observation 
of facts with that system, was compelled to invent 
theories both unphilosophical and contrary to truth. 

(3.) Albategni, the third and by far the most 
distinguished of the above-mentioned astronomers, 
flourished towards the beginning of the tenth 
century. He was designated (and not without 
reason) the Arabian Ptolemy, though he might 
with greater justice have been honoured with the 
name of Hipparchus, since he not only resembled 
the astronomer of Alexandria in the number and 
extent of his observations, but, possessing a genius 
like that of Hipparchus, seems almost to have 
anticipated the discoveries of future ages. The 
most important of the astronomical researches of 
Albategni related to the precession of the equinoxes, 
which he determined to amount to one degree in 
seventy years— to the eccentricity of the solar orbit, 
which he found to be precisely such as modern 
astronomers have fully demonstrated it to be — to 
the calculation of the length of the year, which 
differs but two minutes from the true time — to 
the variations in the sun's apogee, which, till then, 
had never been observed — and to the irregularities 
of the planetary motions, which, though only con- 
jectured by him, modern science has proved, and 
satisfactorily explained. The works of Albategni 
have been long since published, in one quarto volume, 
under the title of " Scientia Stellarum." 

(4.) Alkendi, who flourished somewhat earlier 
than Albategni, though far inferior in science, is 
eulogized in the most extravagant terms by the 



CHAP. II.3 ARABIAN ASTRONOMERS. 259 

historians of this period. He was styled u the root 
of the age, the phoenix in the circle of the sciences, 
and the great Arabian philosopher ;" and if his 
scientific attainments could be fairly estimated by 
the number of subjects on which he wrote, he must 
have merited in some degree these high commen- 
dations ; for, from his pen, proceeded works on 
geometry, arithmetic, algebra, astronomy, logic, 
pneumatology, medicine, music, with many others 
too numerous to mention. 

207. Besides those already adverted to, many 
other mathematicians and astronomers have been 
enumerated by the historians of this period, of less 
distinguished reputation. Among these may be 
mentioned some natives of Arabia, who settled in 
Spain, and being powerfully patronized by the princes 
of the house of Omar, (commonly designated the 
Ommiades^) founded schools of astronomy in the 
chief cities, erected observatories at great expense, 
and undertook scientific works of immense labour. 
Such were — Arsaclwl, a Spanish Moor, who observed 
the obliquity of the eclipses, applied the principles 
of trigonometry to the measurement of the distances 
of the heavenly bodies, and prepared and arranged, 
with prodigious industry, a series of astronomical 
tables, entitled " Tabulae Toledanae," from the city 
of Toledo, in which the observations were made — 
Geber of Grenada, chiefly known as a translator 
and commentator of the "Almagest" — Ahnansor, 
Averroes of Corduba, with many others. 

208. But passing over these, it is requisite to no- 
tice more distinctly three astronomers who flourished 

s 2 



260 ARABIAN ASTRONOMERS. [PART III. 

at different periods and in distant countries, though 
they were ardently devoted to the same scientific 
pursuits. These were respectively natives of Egypt, 
Persia, and Tartary, and were the principal astro- 
nomers of the several ages in which they lived. 

(1.) During the caliphate of Azir Ben Hakem, 
that is, about the end of the twelfth century, Ibn 
Ionis, or Ebn Younis, distinguished himself by his 
knowledge of astronomy, in a country which may 
almost be considered the birth-place of that noble 
science. The details of his scientific observations are 
contained in his " Survey of the Heavens ;" a work 
which still exists in MS. in the Leyden Library, 
and contains an accurate description of twenty- 
eight eclipses that occurred between A. D. 829 and 
1004 — seven observations of equinoxes between 830 
and 851 — and one of the summer solstice in 832. 
Three of the eclipses, which happened in 977, 978, 
and 979, afforded him an opportunity of observing 
and accurately measuring the quantity of the moon's 
acceleration — an observation for which subsequent 
astronomers owe him great obligations. 

(2.) Nassir Eddin flourished about a. d. 1264, 
during the administration of Houlager Khan, one of 
the descendants of the celebrated warrior, Genghis 
Khan. The astronomical observations of Nassir 
Eddin were chiefly made at Tauris in Media, where 
an observatory had been erected by the liberality of 
the Khan, and a considerable body of astronomers 
were assembled, over whom Nassir presided. He 
composed several works on astronomy, among 
which were u a Theory of the Motions of the 



CHAP. IT .]] ARABIAN ASTRONOMERS. 261 

Heavenly Bodies, a Treatise on the Astrolabe, and 
a large collection of Astronomical Tables." 

(3.) Ulugh Beg, grandson of Tamerlane, the 
Tartar Chief, greatly excelled in practical astronomy, 
at a period in which literature and science seemed 
almost extinct — about a. d. 1437. He is celebrated 
partly on account of the magnitude of the astrono- 
mical instruments with which his observations were 
made — the quadrant or gnomon, employed by him, 
being said to equal in height the church of St. So- 
phia, in Constantinople, i. e. about 180 feet — partly 
because of the astronomical tables which he com- 
posed from his own observations for the meridian of 
Samarcand, the capital of his empire, and which were 
so exact as to differ but in a slight degree from 
those of Tycho Brahe, the Danish astronomer ; but 
chiefly on account of his catalogue of the fixed stars, 
made A. d. 1437, which was far more complete than 
that of any preceding astronomer. Several of the 
works of Ulugh Beg have been printed, and MS. 
copies of the rest are preserved in the libraries of 
the curious. This munificent patron of science, and 
distinguished scholar, was assassinated by his own 
son in the fifty-eighth year of his age, and with him 
the literature of Persia expired. 



262 ARABIAN NATURAL PHILOSOPHERS. [PART III. 



Section III. 

ON THE PROGRESS OF EXPERIMENTAL PHILOSOPHY 
AMONG THE ARABIANS. 

209. In the two preceding sections, a sketch has 
been presented of the literature of Arabia during 
the middle ages ; from which it will appear, that 
both the mathematical sciences and astronomy were 
cultivated successfully in that part of the world, 
when they had almost ceased to exist in every other. 
These, however, were not the only departments of 
physical science, to which attention was given by 
the philosophers of Arabia, during the period under 
review. Though the far greater number of the 
literati of those dark ages were geometricians, alge- 
braists, and astronomers, proofs are not wanting, 
that some among them made a considerable pro- 
ficiency in mechanical and optical science ; and it is 
well known that to this asra of intellectual darkness, 
and to the Arabians especially, must be traced the 
origin of the science of chemistry, than which per- 
haps none, in the whole circle of the sciences, has 
been productive of more valuable results. Few are 
the individuals, it is true, whose names have been 
preserved in connexion with these several depart- 
ments of practical philosophy, and still fewer the 
proofs which remain of their unwearied industry 
and patient researches ; but the more rare their 
occurrence, and the more scanty our information 
concerning them, the more desirable it is, that the 



CHAP. II J ARABIAN NATURAL PHILOSOPHERS. 263 

few scattered facts which can be collected from the 
records of past ages, respecting these individuals and 
their works, should be preserved. 

210. In vain shall we look for an Archimedes 
among either the European or the Asiatic philoso- 
phers of the middle ages ; but enough is known to 
make it evident that mechanical science was not 
wholly lost. In proof of this, it will be sufficient 
to adduce a single fact, which is related of Haroun, 
the grandson of Almansor, to whom we have already 
referred as a celebrated astronomer. That prince 
was a contemporary of Charlemagne, the celebrated 
French monarch, who was also a munificent patron 
of literature and the arts. Haroun, having deter- 
mined to send an embassy to Charlemagne, (a.d. 
799,) at the same time charged his ambassador with 
a present,, which was then deemed little less than 
miraculous, and which, it must be acknowledged, 
has rarely been surpassed even by modern science. 
This was a clepsydra, or water-clock, of most inge- 
nious construction. In the dial-plate were twelve 
doors at equal distances, on which were inscribed 
the hours successively ; each of those doors opened 
in its turn, and let fall, upon a brazen bell, a suffi- 
cient number of balls to strike the proper hour of 
the day. They continued open till twelve o'clock, 
when twelve little knights, mounted on horseback, 
issued simultaneously from a part of the machine, pa- 
raded round the dial, and having closed the twelve 
doors, as suddenly retired. That the construction of 
such an instrument, in such an age, should have 
astonished all Europe, is not surprising ; and it may 



264 ARABIAN NATURAL PHILOSOPHERS. [PART III, 

not unreasonably be concluded, that the mechanical 
science which was requisite to produce so curious an 
instrument of measuring time, must have produced 
many others of far greater utility and importance. 

211. During the twelfth century, Alhazen, a cele- 
brated Arabian astronomer, flourished and wrote ; 
who is introduced in this place, because his scien- 
tific researches chiefly related to optical science. 
He made numerous experiments on refracted and 
reflected light, and on the phenomena of vision, — 
subjects which had either escaped the attention of 
the ancients, or in the investigation of which they 
were unsuccessful. By his accurate observation of 
facts, he succeeded in discovering some phenomena 
before unknown, and in explaining others previously 
deemed inexplicable. On the principle of refraction, 
he accounted for the enlarged appearance of bodies 
immersed in water, or seen through crystalline 
substances— the increased apparent magnitude of 
the heavenly bodies, when near the horizon — and 
all the phenomena of twilight. This refraction he 
supposed to depend not on the density of the vapours 
accumulated near the surface of the earth, but on 
the difference of transparency between the atmo- 
spheric air which surrounds the globe, and an ima- 
ginary ethereal matter placed beyond it. Following 
up this theory, he proposed rules by which to ascer- 
tain the difference between the real and apparent 
place of any given star. Whatever may have been 
the success of Alhazen in his experiments on optics, 
to him unquestionably belongs the honour of having 
directed the attention of future philosophers to a 



CHAP. II.] ARABIAN NATURAL PHILOSOPHERS. 265 

highly interesting and important branch of physical 
science. His theory on this, and many similar sub- 
jects, is fully explained in several of his treatises on 
optics, which still exist, and are deemed great literary 
curiosities. 

212. The first rude notions of Chemistry, re- 
garded as a branch of experimental philosophy, 
originated among the Arabians, about the tenth 
century, under the name of Alchemy, an Arabic 
term, which denotes, " a knowledge of the substance 
or composition" of any thing. An ingenious modern 
writer has traced still higher the origin of this 
science, by attributing it to the New Platonists, or 
Eclectic philosophers of the third century; while 
some have traced it yet farther back (as already 
stated), to the ancient Egyptians, to Moses, and even 
to the antediluvians. But whatever opinion may be 
formed respecting the origin of the science, it is 
agreed by all to refer to the Arabians of the middle 
ages the practical exercise of the art of alchemy, 
(properly so called,) or the decomposition and 
analysis of natural substances for the purpose of 
ascertaining their qualities and relations. The two 
leading objects proposed by the alchemists were, 
the transmutation of common metals into gold and 
silver, and the discovery of an universal medicine, 
which, by the removal or prevention of disease, should 
confer immortality on its possessor. It is not diffi- 
cult to account for the origin of these extravagant 
expectations in so dark and superstitious an age. 
When it was perceived that metallic ores, and many 
other natural substances, changed their appear- 



266 ARABIAN NATURAL PHILOSOPHERS. [PART III. 

ances, and evinced new qualities, when variously 
combined or exposed to the action of heat, it was 
natural that some chimerical notion, like that of 
the philosopher's stone, should spring up in the 
minds of persons peculiarly fond of the marvellous, 
and as yet unpractised in experimental philosophy. 

213. The rage for this species of chemical re- 
searches lasted many centuries, though it was con- 
fined to comparatively few individuals. Its earliest 
traces may be perceived in the seventh or eighth 
century, and it attained its height during the 
sixteenth, or just before the revival of letters. 

The first of the alchemists of Arabia known to 
posterity is Geher, whose personal history has not 
been preserved, though some of his writings remain. 
He is said to have flourished during the seventh 
century, to have been a celebrated physician and 
astronomer, and to have written a great variety 
of works on alchemy. The principal which have 
been attributed to him bear the following titles : 
" On Alchemy ;" " On the chief Perfection of 
Metals ;" " On the Philosopher's Stone ;" and " On 
the Art of discovering Gold and Silver." During 
the ninth and tenth centuries, several Arabian 
physicians, of whom Avicenna was the most distin- 
guished, practised and wrote on the art of alchemy. 
In the three following centuries, the number of 
professed adepts, as they were then termed, or 
skilful practitioners in chemical philosophy, was 
greatly multiplied — the most laborious processes 
were carried on with exemplary patience — and the 
most romantic expectations indulged of ultimate 



CHAP. II.^ EUROPEAN MATHEMATICIANS. 267 

success. " But though the alchemists failed in the 
execution of their grand project, many useful dis- 
coveries were made by them, while vainly spending 
their time and labour in attempts to make silver 
and gold. Some important combinations were pro- 
duced, by which pharmacy has been enriched, and 
the science of medicine promoted. The method of 
preparing alcohol, aqua-fortis, volatile alkali, vitriolic 
acid, gunpowder, and many other chemical com- 
pounds, might have remained unknown, but for the 
persevering labours and patient experiments of the 
alchemists of the middle ages." 



Section IV. 

ON THE EUROPEAN MATHEMATICIANS AND ASTRONOMERS 
OF THE MIDDLE AGES. 

214. The partial revival of literature and science 
in Arabia, has been first noticed, because it pre- 
ceded, in the order of time, that which took place in 
Europe during the twelfth and two following cen- 
turies ; and, because the impulse was first received 
from Arabian scholars, which subsequently extended 
itself over the European continent. Having taken 
a very cursory view of the state of mathematical and 
physical science in the East, after its expulsion from 
Greece and Egypt, we now return to that portion 
of the world, which has, for many ages, excelled 
every other in civilization and general knowledge. 
Passing over a period of not less than six or seven 



268 EUROPEAN MATHEMATICIANS. [[PART III. 

centuries, we recommence our review of European 
literature with the beginning of the thirteenth cen- 
tury ; and as, at that period, mathematical and 
astronomical science kept pace with each other, and 
were usually cultivated by the same individuals, they 
will be jointly considered in this place. 

215. Spain and Italy were the two provinces of 
Europe that first caught the reflected rays of 
science from Arabia. In the former of these coun- 
tries, the revival of knowledge is chiefly to be 
attributed to the residence of eminent Arabian 
scholars in some of its principal cities — the esta- 
blishment of schools and colleges— and the collection 
of large and valuable libraries, consisting of MSS. on 
every department of science. Into the latter country 
(Italy) it seems to have been rather accidentally 
than designedly introduced. Leonardo, an opulent 
merchant of Pisa, visited the Asiatic provinces for pur- 
poses of commerce. During his temporary residence 
at Bagdad, he associated frequently with the Arabian 
literati of that city, and made himself acquainted 
with their most important discoveries, especially those 
which related to arithmetic and algebra, in both 
which sciences he became a distinguished proficient. 
The knowledge thus acquired, he lost no time in 
imparting to his countrymen ; and, by doing this, 
obtained the honour of introducing into Europe, a 
science before wholly unknown, but which has ever 
since occupied a chief place among the objects of 
human intelligence. Though he was well known 
to have left many valuable MSS. (chiefly on the 
new algebraic science,) none were supposed to have 



CHAP. II.] EUROPEAN MATHEMATICIANS. 269 

escaped the wreck of ages, till about the close of 
the last century ; when a learned Italian referred to 
a MS. written by Leonardo of Pisa, which he had 
discovered in a monastic library, bearing the date 
of a. d. 1202, and which has since been published. 
From this ancient document it is evident, that its 
author was a skilful algebraist ; that he was not un- 
acquainted with the problems of Diophantus ; and 
that he had, at least, proceeded as far as to the reso- 
lution of cubic equations. 

216. In a more advanced period of the same 
century, several mathematicians and astronomers 
flourished in different parts of Europe, whom it will 
be sufficient cursorily to notice. (1.) Jordanus 
Nemorarius, author of a treatise on the Astrolabe, 
and a work on Arithmetic, in ten books. (2.) John 
of Halifax, (better known by the name of Sacro- 
bosco), an Englishman by birth, but resident at 
Paris, as professor of mathematics. His principal 
work, on " the Sphere/' acquired great celebrity ; 
besides which, he wrote treatises on the Astrolabe, 
the Calendar, and the Arabian Arithmetic. He 
flourished about a. d. 1250. (3.) Companies of 
Novara, is best known as one of the first European 
Commentators on Euclid's Elements ; and also as the 
author of several works on astronomy, which were 
designed to make known the discoveries of the an- 
cient astronomers, together with the improvements 
which had been more recently suggested by the 
Arabians. (4.) To the preceding may be added, 
Gerard of Cremona, and his illustrious patron, the 
Emperor Frederic II ; the latter of whom liberally 



270 EUROPEAN ASTRONOMERS. [PART III. 

patronized the arts, by founding the university of 
Naples ; and the former, having been appointed its 
first professor of astronomy, rendered an important 
service to science, by translating, from the Arabic 
into Latin, the Almagest of Ptolemy, with Geber's 
Commentary ; those parts of Aristotle's writings 
which relate to Physics ; and Alhazen's treatise on 
Twilight, besides composing several original works. 
(5.) A name far more celebrated in the history of 
science than any of the above-mentioned mathe- 
maticians, must not be passed over in this place, 
though we shall reserve for a future section, the 
more distinct record of his scientific discoveries. 
This was Roger Bacon, an English friar, who was 
born a. d. 1214, and died in 1294. When the 
ignorance of the age in which he lived, and of the 
monks with whom he associated, compared with his 
almost universal knowledge, is considered, it must 
be acknowledged that he was a prodigy of genius 
and erudition ; and that very few, either in ancient 
or modern times, have surpassed him, either in origi- 
nality of invention, or in profundity of research. 

217. The thirteenth century is chiefly memo- 
rable in the annals of astronomical science, as 
the sera in which the celebrated Alphonsine 
Tables were prepared by the united labours of 
the most distinguished astronomers of the age, 
both Asiatic and European, whether Christians, 
Saracens, or Jews. They derive their name from 
Alphonsus II. who reigned in Castile, a.d. 1240. 
Their object was to correct the errors which had 
been discovered in the calculations of Ptolemy, and 



CHAP. II.]] EUROPEAN ASTRONOMERS. 271 

produce a new series, more complete and accurate 
than any which had preceded them. The expense 
incurred by this scientific undertaking is said, by 
some historians of that age, to have exceeded 40,000, 
and by others 400,000 ducats. As soon as the Al- 
phonsine Tables were made public, they attracted the 
attention of the principal mathematicians and astro- 
nomers both of Europe and Asia ; several of whom 
wrote treatises explanatory of their details, or in- 
tended to correct their supposed errors. 

218. The following century (the fourteenth) was 
one in which true science manifestly declined 
throughout Europe, in consequence of the ecclesi- 
astical domination maintained by the clergy, and 
the frivolous logomachies of the scholastics, to which 
we shall allude more particularly hereafter. Scarcely 
do the literary annals of that age furnish us with 
the name of an individual, who excelled either in 
mathematics or astronomy, though many were 
laboriously employed in writing commentaries on 
the works of the ancients. One exception to the 
above remark must be made in favour of Richard of 
Swineshead, who taught the mathematics and astro- 
nomy in the university of Oxford, about A. d. 1350. 
His works chiefly " consist of profound and subtle 
applications of algebraic calculations to physics and 
metaphysics." He wrote treatises " on astronomical 
calculations," which indicate, to say the least, the 
patient industry and ingenuity of their writer, and 
his great skill in algebraic processes. Passing over 
this inauspicious aera, we shall immediately advance 
to the fifteenth century, during which these sciences 



272 EUROPEAN ASTRONOMERS. [PART III. 

experienced a partial revival, and some highly gifted 
individuals arose, whose genius illumined the age 
and country in which they lived. 

219. The first of these, in the order of time, 
was Lucas de Burgo, an Italian monk of the 
Franciscan order, who, after having employed 
several years in the East, in assiduous studies, 
brought thence a mass of scientific information, 
which qualified him to sustain the office of professor 
of mathematics and astronomy in the recently 
founded universities of Naples, Venice, and Milan. 
His principal works were, " A Latin Version of 
Euclid's Elements," with notes ; a treatise u on 
Algebra," in his native tongue ; and " Elements of 
Geometry," prepared by himself; with several other 
tracts on philosophical subjects, to which his atten- 
tion had been directed by the Arabians. 

The Cardinal, Nicholas de Cusa, who flourished 
about a.d. 1445, is chiefly celebrated on account of 
his attempt to revive the Pythagorean notion of the 
earth's motion round the sun, in opposition to the 
Ptolemaic, which then universally prevailed. It is 
not a little extraordinary that an opinion so contrary 
to the orthodox faith in philosophy, should have been 
propagated with impunity in such an age ; the 
announcement and vindication of which, nearly two 
centuries after, consigned Galileo to the dungeons 
of the Inquisition. It is probable that Nicholas 
owed his safety to his high ecclesiastical rank, and 
to the universal rejection of his theory. 

220. Purbach next occurs among the mathema- 
ticians of the fifteenth century. He was born 



CHAP. IlJ EUROPEAN ASTRONOMERS. 273 

A. d. 1421, and died in 1461. Attracted to Vienna 
by the liberal patronage of Frederic II., he succeeded 
Gmunden as professor of astronomy in the university 
recently founded by the emperor in that city. 
There he acquired great celebrity by his scientific 
discoveries and his writings. His first object was 
to produce an accurate translation of Ptolemy's 
"Almagest." This had been often attempted, but 
every previous attempt had failed. He next di- 
rected his attention to the improved construction 
of celestial spheres and globes, in which the stars 
and constellations then known to astronomers were 
more accurately laid down. Thence he proceeded 
to form new and enlarged tables of the fixed stars, 
and determine their relative positions. In addition 
to these his principal labours, Purbach employed 
all his leisure time in writing numerous treatises 
on arithmetic, algebra, geometry, astronomy, and 
several other departments of natural philosophy. 
Nor was it the least valuable of the services ren- 
dered by this eminent astronomer, that he first 
introduced into trigonometry those abbreviations 
which are now generally adopted, by means of 
which calculations in that science have been 
greatly facilitated. 

221. But the brightest luminary of this dark 
age was Muller, better known by the name of 
Regiomontanus, which he derived from the place of 
his birth. To the literary eminence of this disciple 
and successor of Purbach, a modern writer of high 
authority has borne the following honourable 
testimony : " Regiomontanus is the mathematician 



274 EUROPEAN ASTRONOMERS. [PART III. 

who holds the highest rank among those of the 
fifteenth century. To him we owe many translations 
and commentaries, together with several original 
and valuable works of his own. Trigonometry, 
which had never been known to the Greeks as a 
separate science, and which took that form in 
Arabia, advanced, in the hands of Regiomontanus, 
to a great degree of perfection, and approached very 
near to the condition which it has attained at the 
present day. He also introduced the use of decimal 
fractions into arithmetic, and thus gave to that scale 
its full extent, and to numerical computation the 
utmost degree of simplicity and enlargement which 
it seems capable of attaining."* Among the versions 
effected by Regiomontanus, were latin translations 
of " the Conies of Apollonius" — " the Cylindrics of 
Serenus"— " the Mechanical Questions of Aristotle"— 
"i the Pneumatics of Hero," and " Ptolemy's Almagest," 
all of which versions were enriched by him with 
highly important annotations. Among his original 
works were, treatises on the " Theory of Comets 
and Planets" — on the "Armillary Astrolabe"— on 
" Plane and Spherical Triangles" — and "Ephemerides" 
for thirty years to come. This distinguished pro- 
moter of science was cut off in the prime of life, 
while making a series of astronomical observations 
at Rome ; and u his early death," (which took 
place a. d. 1476, in the fortieth year of his age,) 
" amidst innumerable projects for the advancement 
of science, is even at this day a matter of regret." 

* Playfair's Dissertat. apud Encyc. Britt. 



CHAP. IlJ PRACTICAL PHILOSOPHERS. 275 

222. A few names occur in the annals of scientific 
philosophy, towards the close of the fifteenth cen- 
tury, which it will be sufficient merely to enumerate, 
since they were far inferior to the two illustrious 
individuals mentioned above. These were, Walther, 
a citizen of Nuremberg, who attempted to carry on 
the projects which were left unfinished by Regio- 
montanus ; Werner, of the same place, who is said 
to have been " the first of the moderns that became 
acquainted with the method of geometrical analysis ;" 
Benedetto, an Italian mathematician, who followed 
in the same track, though with unequal steps ; 
Bianchini of Bologna ; Angela, a Florentine ; En- 
gelius, a Bavarian ; Ferdinand of Cordova, in 
Spain ; and Bernard of Granolachi, in the same 
country. All of these are included in the list of 
persons who contributed in a greater or less degree 
to promote mathematical and astronomical science, 
in different parts of Europe, about the time of 
the revival of letters. 



Section IV. 

ON THE STATE OF PHYSICAL SCIENCE IN EUROPE 
DURING THE MIDDLE AGES. 

223. The number of practical philosophers (who 
flourished in Europe during the dark ages) whose 
names, and the record of whose scientific labours has 
been preserved, is extremely small. There may have 

t2 



276 PRACTICAL PHILOSOPHERS. [PART III. 

been many more who silently and without observa- 
tion prosecuted their favourite studies, at a period in 
which scholastic subtilties and dialectic disputations 
were alone the order of the day, and when scientific 
discoveries were attributed to demoniacal agency 
and witchcraft. But if there were such, their me- 
mory and works have, for the most part, perished 
amidst the darkness of the age in which it was their 
unhappiness to live. A few individuals were more 
fortunate, of whom it is proposed in the present 
section to give a brief account. 

It will be remembered, that, when reviewing the 
scientific discoveries of the Arabians, mention was 
made of a celebrated clepsydra, or water clock, pre- 
sented by Al-Haroun to the Emperor Charlemagne. 
In imitation of this ingenious piece of mechanism, 
several Europeans, in subsequent ages, exerted 
their utmost skill and science in the construction 
of curious automata. Among the earliest of these 
were, Gerbert (afterwards Pope Sylvester II.), who 
flourished during the tenth century ; and Albert 
(surnamedthe Great), who lived nearly three centuries 
later. Gerbert spent his youth in the study of 
the mathematics ; but, in more advanced life, he 
brought his geometrical science to bear on practical 
physics. Combining theory with mechanical skill, 
he constructed spheres for astronomical uses ; ob- 
served the stars through tubes ; invented a clock, 
which marked the hours with tolerable accuracy, 
and pointed out the courses of the stars ; and built 
an organ, which produced musical sounds, by forcing 
currents of water with wind through brazen pipes 



CHAP. II. J PRACTICAL PHILOSOPHERS. 277 

of different length and thickness. These wondrous 
inventions were more than sufficient, in that age, 
to procure him the reputation of a magician, and 
expose him to the hatred of his brethren. Albert 
was the author of numerous treatises on arithmetic, 
geometry, algebra, astronomy, and mechanics, be- 
sides many others on metaphysics, ethics, and 
scholastic theology. He is said to have chiefly 
excelled in mechanical science ; in proof of which 
it is stated, that he constructed the automaton figure 
of a man, who opened the door of the machine in 
which he was deposited, and uttered certain articu- 
late sounds, as if in reply to questions addressed 
to him. It is further stated, that the renowned 
angelical doctor, Thomas Aquinas, was so terrified 
when he heard the vocal sounds uttered by this 
automaton, as to lift up his staff, and break it in 
pieces, imagining that he had thereby obtained a 
signal victory over the Prince of Darkness. 

224. The century immediately succeeding that 
in which Albert flourished, (the 14th,) was yet 
more favourable to mechanical science. Machines 
of greater practical utility were then constructed, 
and applied to the ordinary purposes of life. Among 
these may be mentioned, as highly important in its 
consequences, the invention of paper mills, attributed 
to Ulmar Strame, a senator of Nuremberg, who 
flourished about a. d. 1350. The manufacture of 
clocks, moving by weights and pulleys, is also 
attributed to this age, though the original inventor 
is unknown. Of those who excelled in this de- 
partment of mechanical science, the annals of this 



278 PRACTICAL PHILOSOPHERS. £PART III. 

century record with distinguished honour the name 
of Wallingford, an English monk, who both wrote 
a scientific treatise on the subject, (still preserved in 
the Bodleian Library,) and constructed a chronometer, 
that pointed out by its movements the courses of the 
sun and moon, the state of the tides, with several 
other curious properties, which were then considered 
almost miraculous. In imitation of this English 
phenomenon, an ingenious philosopher of Padua 
constructed a clock, which marked the hours, the 
motions of the heavenly bodies, the days, months, 
and sacred festivals, throughout the year. It is, 
however, probable, that though constructed on a 
different principle, both the last-mentioned machines 
were but imitations of the celebrated clepsydra of 
Al-Haroun. To Friar Bacon, (whom we shall have 
occasion repeatedly to mention during our review 
of the middle ages,) mechanics, as well as almost 
all other physical sciences, were greatly indebted. 
Dr. Friend, one of the biographers of that dis- 
tinguished philosopher, ascribes to him a variety of 
mechanical contrivances for the rarefaction of air, 
which probably prepared the way for the important 
invention of the air-pump; and scruples not to 
affirm, that Roger Bacon was " the miracle of his 
age, and possessed perhaps the greatest genius 
for mechanical science, that has been known since 
the days of Archimedes." 

225. Though this eulogium on Bacon may be 
somewhat exaggerated, there is no doubt that he 
stands pre-eminent in one important division of 
philosophical science, and was most successful in his 



CHAP. II.3 PRACTICAL PHILOSOPHERS. 279 

discoveries. We refer to his experiments in optics, 
which sufficiently prove the unwearied assiduity 
with which he pursued the path of true philosophy, 
in an age of ignorance and gross delusion. No one 
appears to have preceded him in this track among 
the philosophers of Europe, except Vitello of Poland, 
who flourished about a.d. 1270, and who had made 
some useful observations and experiments on re- 
fracted light, the rainbow, and the human eye. 
Vitello ascribed the refraction of rays to the resist- 
ance which they suffer in passing from a denser to 
a rarer medium, though he was unable fully to ex- 
plain the cause, and still less to measure the degree 
of that resistance. The science of optics was re- 
duced by Vitello to a more regular form than it had 
previously assumed ; general principles were stated 
and imperfectly established ; and tables, shewing 
the results of experiments on the refractive powers 
of air, water, and glass, were drawn up by him 
with great care and accuracy. But Roger Bacon 
far outstripped his predecessors in this branch of 
science. It would appear from his writings, that 
the principle of lenses of various kinds, reflecting 
mirrors, magnifying glasses, the camera obscura, 
and many similar inventions, was understood by him ; 
though their practical uses had not yet been dis- 
covered. The most important application of lenses 
to assist vision by the construction of spectacles, 
some have ascribed to Bacon ; but it is generally 
believed to belong to the close of the eentury in 
which he flourished.* 

* Vide " Smith's Optics," p. 80, where the question of the 
origin of this invention is fully discussed, and the period assigned 



280 PRACTICAL PHILOSOPHERS. [PART III. 

226. But though posterity may have been dis- 
posed to attach most value to the optical researches 
and discoveries of Friar Bacon, it is evident, from 
his own statement, contained in his most celebrated 
work, entitled " Opus Majus" that he estimated 
most highly his experiments in Alchemy. " His 
writings on this subject," says a scientific modern 
author, " though troubled and polluted by the 
reigning absurdities of alchemy, contain many curious 
facts and judicious observations. His two principal 
works were entitled '■ Opus Majus, and ' Epistola 
de Secreiis Operihus Artis et Natures ;' the former of 
which breathes sentiments which would do honour 
to the most refined periods of science, and in which 
many of the advantages likely to be derived from 
that mode of investigation insisted upon by his great 
successor (Chancellor Bacon) are anticipated.*" — 
A striking proof of the justice of this remark has 
been recently afforded ; for Homberg, a celebrated 
French experimentalist, availing himself of some 
hints of chemical combinations suggested by Friar 
Bacon in the thirteenth century, has not long since 
made some important discoveries in that science. 
Many proofs might be gathered from the works of 
this great philosopher, that he was enabled by his 
penetration and accuracy of experiment to antici- 

to it is a. d. 1313. — Bossut, in his History of Mathematics, 
affirms, that " the invention of spectacles belongs to the close of 
the thirteenth century, and that we are indebted for it to the 
Italians. Incontestable proofs exist, that the first glasses of this 
kind were constructed by Alexander de Spina, a Jacobin friar, 
who died at Pisa, in 1313. 

* Brande's Dissertation, apud Encyc. Britt. New Sup. 



CHAP. II.]] PRACTICAL PHILOSOPHERS. 281 

pate the discoveries of subsequent ages. Whatever 
opinion may be formed respecting the invention of 
gunpowder, which has wrought such an entire revo- 
lution in the art of war, it is certain, that if not 
actually invented by Roger Bacon, he pointed out 
the chemical combinations by which it is produced, 
and described the effects of such combination as 
causing " an imitation of thunder and lightning." 
" From saltpetre and other ingredients," he writes, 
" we are able to form a fire which will burn to any 
distance." And in another place, " a small portion 
of matter, about the size of a thumb, properly dis- 
posed, will make a tremendous sound and corus- 
cation, by which cities and armies might be de- 
stroyed." He also mentions, in another part of the 
same work, " a substance resembling phosphorus," 
and which he terms " a fire prepared by art, that 
cannot be extinguished." 

227. From the time of this celebrated experi- 
mental philosopher, to that of the revival of letters, 
scarcely can an individual be pointed out who may 
claim distinct notice on account of improvements in 
physical science, if we except those connected with 
two important discoveries, which must be referred 
to the period under review, and the influence of 
which was incalculably great. We allude to the 
invention of the mariner's compass and the art of 
printing; the former of which belongs to the 
twelfth, and the latter to the fifteenth century. 

The remarkable property which the loadstone 
possesses of attracting iron, seems to have been 
known to the ancients in very remote ages. But 



282 PRACTICAL PHILOSOPHERS. [PART III. 

there is no reason to conclude, that the simple fact 
that a suspended magnet would invariably point 
to the North Pole, and still less, that the import- 
ant application of this property of the loadstone to 
purposes of navigation, was known in Europe be- 
fore the middle or close of the twelfth century. 
The French, Italians, Germans, and English, all 
contend for the honour of this invention. Their 
claims may perhaps be most equitably adjusted by 
supposing that, the idea having been once sug- 
gested, important improvements in the construction 
and use of the mariner's compass were almost simul- 
taneously made in several parts of Europe. The 
value of this discovery (by whomsoever it may have 
been made) can scarcely be rated too highly ; since 
it has served to remove the barriers by which distant 
nations were separated, and opened an easy commu- 
nication, whether for the purposes of commerce, or 
christian benevolence, between the remotest in- 
habitants of our globe. New continents have been 
discovered, — the earth which we inhabit circum- 
navigated and explored, — the entire dominion of the 
sea attained,— commerce indefinitely extended, — and 
wealth, gathered from every region under heaven, 
accumulated, by means of this felicitous invention. 
But, we trust, an infinitely more important result 
of this discovery will yet be seen in the facilities it 
affords to the universal diffusion of christian know- 
ledge, and the propagation of the gospel through- 
out the world. 

228. The second of the above-mentioned dis- 
coveries, viz. the art of printing, is yet more im- 



CHAP. IlJ PRACTICAL PHILOSOPHERS. 283 

portant in itself and in its results. Some have 
attributed this, as well as the preceding invention, 
to eastern nations, and have adduced evidence to 
prove, that the Chinese made use of engraved 
tablets long before the Christian gera. Without 
entering into this controversy, or presuming to 
decide on a question so warmly contested, it will 
be sufficient briefly to notice in this place its 
European origin. Much obscurity, uncertainty, 
and contradiction characterise the earliest historical 
notices of this art. The most probable statement 
is that which assigns to Haarlem the honour of 
having conferred this inestimable benefit on man- 
kind, and attributes to Laurentius, a native of that 
city, of comparatively humble birth, the first rude 
attempts at printing. He began with carving let- 
ters in the rind of beech-trees, and impressing the 
characters on paper for the instruction or amuse- 
ment of his grand-children. Next he invented a 
more glutinous kind of ink than that previously 
used for MSS., in order that the characters thus 
impressed might be more distinct and permanent. 
After this, he cut entire pages in blocks of wood ; 
and finally, he prepared, out of the most solid wood 
that he could procure, separate types, of different 
sizes and forms. These types are said to have been 
stolen from Laurentius by one of his servants, 
(named Geinsfleiches, but better known by that 
of Faustus,) who carried them to Ment%, and there 
privately printed the first book — H the Doctrinale, 
or Grammar of Alexander Galius" — in 1442. Other 
accounts, however, state, that Laurentius had previ- 



284 PRACTICAL PHILOSOPHERS. [PART III. 

ously printed several books, at Haarlem, from his 
wooden types, between the years 1430 and 1440 ; 
among which were the " Speculum Belgicum," and 
two editions of " Donatus." The next important 
improvement in this art was the substitution of 
metallic for ivoodcn types. These were first made 
of lead, and soon after of a more solid metal, com- 
pounded of tin and lead. It seems probable that 
the first large work printed with metallic types was 
the Vulgate Bible, published at Mentz, under the 
auspices of Gutenberg, in 1450, after having been 
seven or eight years in preparation. A third period 
in the history of the art of printing is that in which 
Peter Schoeffer, of Strasburg, effected a valuable 
improvement by casting metal types, which had 
been previously cut with much labour, and at great 
expense. The first printed specimen of these im- 
proved types was the " Rationale" or Logic of Du- 
randus, which bears the date of 1459. On account 
of the three distinct improvements in the art, which 
have been briefly described, a contest for the honour 
of its invention arose between Haarlem, Ment%> 
and* Strasburg, which has long since been decided 
in favour of the former. It is not necessary more 
minutely to describe the subsequent stages of im- 
provement through which this important art rapidly 
passed. It constitutes one of the most remarkable 
features of this invention, that it was perfected 
almost as soon as discovered ; since it is admitted 
that some of the finest specimens of typography 
are to be found among the books printed towards 
the close of the fifteenth century. 



CHAP. III.]] DIALECTICIANS. 285 



CHAPTER III. 

THE HISTORY OF INTELLECTUAL SCIENCE DURING 
THE MIDDLE AGES. 



Section I. 

HISTORY OF LOGIC CONTINUED. 

229. The period, to which the present division of 
our historical retrospect refers, was chiefly charac- 
terised by dialectic subtilties and abstract specula- 
tions on metaphysical subjects. This predominant 
fashion may be traced to a much earlier period 
than that now under review. It originated with 
the philosophers of the Eclectic sect, and especially 
with some christian fathers belonging to the Alexan- 
drian school, who flourished during the second and 
two following centuries, but whose writings exerted 
a yet mightier influence after their decease. Among 
these the most celebrated were, Tertullian, Origen, 
Clemens Alexandrinus, and Augustine. The three 
former of these, though eminent scholars, are justly 
chargeable with the corruption of Christianity, by 
blending with its pure and simple doctrines the 
speculative refinements of the Platonic philosophy. 
A taste for metaphysical theology having been thus 
generated and nurtured, it spread in every direction 
together with the propagation of the christian faith, 
and diffused itself through the writings of many of 
the Latin and Greek fathers. Augustine, Bishop of 



286 DIALECTICIANS. [jPART III. 

Hippo,, who flourished about the commencement of 
the fifth century, contributed in no ordinary degree 
to the wide and almost universal diffusion of this 
evil ; for such it proved to be in future years, however 
harmless the speculations might at first appear. His 
voluminous writings became so celebrated after his 
death, as almost to supersede every other, and were 
even deemed by some of the scholastic doctors, (to 
whom we shall hereafter advert,) a surer standard of 
orthodoxy, than the writings of the evangelists and 
apostles. The first distinct treatise on the art of 
Logic, which properly belongs to the middle ages, 
was published under the name of Augustine, and 
long attributed to him, though its spuriousness was 
afterwards fully proved by some Benedictine monks. 
This fictitious work, which became so celebrated 
in the schools, on account of the supposed sanctity 
and wisdom of its reputed author, was probably the 
production of some obscure monk, not wholly igno- 
rant of the dialectics of Aristotle, who dexterously 
availed himself of the superstitions and semibar- 
barism of the age in which he lived, to give a cur- 
rency and reputation to his writings, which were by 
no means due to their merit. It still occupies a 
place in the first volume of Augustine's works, and 
consists of two treatises ; the first entitled, " Prin- 
cipia Dialectica f the second, " Categories Decern ;" 
which were believed to have been translated by 
Augustine, from the Greek original of Aristotle, into 
the Latin tongue. 

230. It was not, however, till the commencement 
of the seventh century, that the reign, or rather the 



CHAP. Ill/] DIALECTICIANS. 287 

despotism of Aristotle can be considered as fully 
established. In the earlier ages of the Christian 
aera, strong prejudices had existed against the Peri- 
patetic philosophy, as more opposed to the doctrines 
of Christianity, than the speculations of Plato and 
the Academics. But when the defenders of the 
christian faith perceived the use made by heresiarchs, 
pagans, and infidels, of the dialectic weapons with 
which Aristotle had furnished them, and the diffi- 
culty of detecting their sophisms, they became con- 
vinced of the necessity of providing themselves with 
like armour of defence and assault. They began, 
therefore, about this period, to study and admire the 
dialectics of Aristotle, then lately translated from 
the Arabic into Latin ; to write commentaries upon 
them of ponderous size ; and to employ them as 
bulwarks for the defence of christian doctrine. Not 
a few individuals, celebrated in their day, but whose 
names are now almost forgotten, distinguished them- 
selves by their cumbrous and almost interminable 
annotations on Aristotle's and Augustine's logic. 
Among these may be enumerated Photius, Joannes 
Damascenus, John of Alexandria, Isidore of Seville, 
Psellus the elder and younger, Eustrathius, Nice- 
phorus, and Magentinus ; most of whom wrote 
commentaries on the works of Aristotle, while some 
drew up compendia of logic founded on the Peripa- 
tetic system. The rise of the Scholastic sect of 
philosophers (to whom we shall have occasion to ad- 
vert more particularly in a future section) is chiefly 
to be attributed to these writings. 

231. A new impulse was given to the dialectic art, 



288 DIALECTICIANS. [[PART III. 

towards the close of the seventh and the commence- 
ment of the eighth century, by the increased vene- 
ration in which Augustine was held by the whole 
christian church, and the lectures which began to 
be publicly delivered on the manual of logic falsely 
attributed to him. Several writers of considerable 
eminence contributed, about this time, to the ad- 
vancement of intellectual science. Such were, — 
Capella, a native of Africa, who wrote a work, 
highly applauded in that benighted age, upon the 
" seven arts," which were then supposed to em- 
brace the entire circle of human science ; namely, 
grammar, dialectics, geometry, rhetoric, arithmetic, 
astrology, and music ; — Cassiodorus, author of a 
similar work, but written in a far superior style, and 
more methodically arranged; — Boethius, who wrote 
in Greek, a much admired treatise on " the Conso- 
lations of Philosophy," which our Saxon monarch, 
Alfred the Great, translated into his vernacular 
dialect; — and Chalcidius, whose commentary on 
some of the writings of Plato, furnished the specu- 
lative metaphysicians of the middle ages with 
abundant materials for logical debate. Two in- 
dividuals, who flourished about this period, may 
claim yet more honourable notice, since they make 
a distinguished figure in the literary history of our 
country, and were men far superior to the age 
in which they lived. These were the venerable 
Bede, and Alcuinus, both of whom were English 
monks, who, by their writings and instructions, 
vainly endeavoured to introduce a more just and 
rational mode of philosophising, than that which 



CHAP. III.] DIALECTICIANS. 289 

then prevailed throughout Europe. Their efforts 
were, however, completely frustrated, by the blind 
and bigoted attachment of their contemporaries to 
the metaphysical subtilties of scholastic theology.* 

232. During the ninth and tenth centuries, the 
rage for dialectic controversies, instead of subsiding, 
greatly increased. John of Salisbury, who flourished 
at a somewhat later period, thus characterises the 
learned men of his day, and the remark will apply 
to several of the preceding centuries : — " Men at 
this time," says he, " waste their whole lives in con- 

* The following picture of the literature of that age has 
been sketched by a modern writer with much fidelity, and 
may serve to illustrate the general character of the scholastic 
system of education : — " Even in the most celebrated schools of 
this age, the field of instruction was confused and barren. In 
philosophy, nothing was studied but mathematics and logic, and 
the latter was taught in a trifling and useless manner from the 
book attributed to Augustine. Neither preceptor nor pupil was 
at this time to be found who desired or dared to attempt greater 
things. The circle of instruction, or the liberal arts, as the term 
was then understood, consisted of two branches, the trivium and 
the quadrivium. The trivium included grammar, rhetoric, and 
dialectics ; — the quadrivium comprehended music, arithmetic, 
geometry, and astronomy. These seven heads, which were sup- 
posed to include universal knowledge, were thus quaintly ex- 
pressed in the barbarous Latin of that age : 

' Gramm. loquitur, Dia. vera docet, Rhet. verba colorat, 
Mus. canit, Ar. numerat, Geo. ponderat, Ast. colit astra.' 
He who was master of these was thought to have no need of a 
preceptor to explain any books, or to solve any questions, which 
lay within the compass of human reason — the knowledge of the 
trivium having furnished with the key to all language ; and that 
of the quadrivium having opened to him the secret laws of 
nature."— Enf. Hist. ofPhilos. Vol.11, p. 337. 

U 



290 DIALECTICIANS. [PART III. 

troversy, even disputing in the public streets. When 
too old for any other employment, they still retain 
a fondness for debate : always seeking, but never 
arriving at truth ; retailing the opinions and say- 
ings of others, and compiling an incoherent mass 
of dogmas, out of which each author would find it 
difficult to recover his own." The names of most 
celebrity which occur in connexion with this de- 
partment of letters, (if it may be thus designated,) 
are, in England, Joannes Scotus, surnamed Erigena, 
Bridfurth, and Dunstan ; — in France, Maurus, Re- 
migius, Constantine, Hincmar, and Abbo ; — in Ger- 
many, Nanno, Herman, and Baldric ;— in Spain, 
Alfarabi, Avicenna, and Averroes ; — and, above all, 
in Italy, Gerbert, (afterwards Pope Sylvester II.) 
who has already been included in the list of natural 
philosophers, but who also excelled as an acute 
dialectician. Had the latter of these luminaries of 
the tenth century confined himself to the logic of 
Aristotle, he might have escaped most of the perse- 
cutions suffered from his clerical brethren, and would 
probably have been canonized after his death ; but 
his physical science and skill in mechanics so terri- 
fied his ignorant contemporaries, that they ascribed 
his pre-eminent attainments to satanic agency, and 
charged him with holding converse with the devil. # 

* A modern historian of the middle ages, concludes his 
sketch of the varied life of Gerbert, with the following eulogium 
on his literary character :— " I shall not, I think, be blamed for 
bringing before the reader the principal events of the life of this 
extraordinary personage. He has seen him in the different capa- 
cities of a scholar and teacher ; admired his various attainments ; 



CHAP. III.] DIALECTICIANS. 291 

233. The preceding sketch may serve as a just 
though brief representation of the state of logical 
science up to the commencement of the twelfth cen- 
tury, with which the present section will terminate. 
A few names might be added to the list already 
enumerated, of men well versed in metaphysical 
subtilties, and who applied them not to explain but 
rather to mysticize and obscure the system of chris- 
tian theology ; men who, by means of superior 
industry, rather than original and inventive genius, 
raised themselves above the ordinary level of the 
times in which they lived ; but yet who perplexed 
themselves with fruitless controversies, and expended 
their strength in unprofitable logomachies. Such 
were Ingulph, Lanfranc, and Anselm, in Britain ; 
and Herman, Berenger, Bruno, Darnian, and Ros eel- 
line, abroad : some of whom will be more distinctly 
noticed in the subsequent sketch of the Scholastic 
Philosophy. To all of these may be applied, though 



listened to his eloquence ; and followed him as he advanced, 
through a change of various fortunes, to the zenith of ecclesias- 
tical power. He was certainly an able orator : and his language, 
though not always pure, yet vigorous and animated, appears, by 
a pleasing deception, to obliterate for a time the consciousness 
of the forlorn period in which he lived. Indeed, had it been the 
fortune of Gerbert to have lived in some more happy aera, his 
intellectual height would have experienced some diminution. 
The surrounding shades gave a more striking magnitude to his 
talents. I must now add, that he was also a poet. Few speci- 
mens of his talents in this line have been preserved ; but one, not 
destitute of poetical merit, exists in the form of an epitaph 
written beneath the portrait of the philosopher Boethius." — 
Beringtorfs Lit. Hist, of the Middle Ages, p. 215. 

U 2 



292 DIALECTICIANS. [PART lit, 

in various degrees, the character given by Enfield, 
in his abridgement of Bmcker's History, to the 
learned men of this age generally. " They were 
wholly employed in attempting to explain abstract 
notions of theology by terms almost without mean- 
ing ; hereby accumulating frivolous controversies, 
and obtruding upon the church new refinements in 
theological speculations, which soon grew into the 
monstrous form of the scholastic philosophy." A 
circumstance, which greatly contributed to this 
debasement of the art of logic, was, that the dialec- 
ticians of those barbarous ages, ignorant for the most 
part of the Greek tongue, and, consequently, of the 
original writings of Aristotle, studied dialectics 
either in the wretched manual of the Pseudo- Augus- 
tine, or in defective Latin versions of Aristotle, 
made from the Saracenic translations of Averroes, 
Avicenna, Alfarabi, and other Moorish writers, who 
mutilated the text, and misinterpreted the meaning 
of their great preceptor. Notwithstanding the 
labour expended by Herman, Nanno, and a few 
other scholars of that age, in translating and 
commenting upon select portions of the genuine 
writings of Aristotle, it was not till long after this 
period, that they became more generally known, 
in consequence of the introduction of copies of the 
Greek original, into the principal schools and uni- 
versities of Europe, and the lectures publicly deli- 
vered on them by professors of high reputation and 
learning. — Vid. Enf. Hist, of Philos. Vol. II. 
pp. 350, 351. 



CHAP. III.]] SCHOLASTIC PHILOSOPHY. 293 



Section II. 

ORIGIN AND GENERAL VIEW OF THE SCHOLASTIC 
PHILOSOPHY. 

234. We have arrived at that period in the his- 
tory of the literature of the middle ages, which 
brings more immediately under our notice that 
perverted species of intellectual science, which has 
usually been designated the Scholastic Philosophy. 
Its origin may be traced to a much earlier period ; 
but it was about the commencement of the twelfth 
century, that it acquired an ascendancy throughout 
Europe, to which no parallel can be found in the 
history either of preceding or subsequent ages. It 
derives its name from the establishments which had 
then been recently founded in most parts of Eu- 
rope, and especially in France, denominated public 
schools; on which account the preceptors were 
called schoolmen, and their course of instruction was 
described by the general term, scholastic learning. 
One or more of these schools was usually attached to 
every cathedral and monastery of reputation, to which 
the youth of distinction repaired for education, and 
over which presided the acutest logicians of the age. 
This system, in itself most excellent, and which, at a 
more enlightened sera, would have been productive 
of incalculable benefits, soon degenerated into an 
instrument of papal tyranny and degrading super- 
stition. The public lectures delivered in these 
boasted seminaries of learning, consisted alone of 



294 SCHOLASTIC PHILOSOPHY. [PART III. 

verbal subtilties, and absurd speculations, dignified 
with the name of metaphysical theology. The men 
who presided over them, though bearing the high- 
sounding titles of " irrefragable, angelical, seraphic, 
profound, resolute, and wonderful doctors," were, 
with a few honourable exceptions, but ignorant, 
conceited, and pragmatical polemics, versed alone in 
the artifices and sophisms of a debased logic. They 
accumulated a prodigious mass of speculative ab- 
surdities, which continued during several ages to 
excite universal admiration. They canvassed and 
discussed the most thorny and intricate questions in 
metaphysics, with all the asperity of polemic war- 
fare, and all the pomp of unintelligible language ; 
till every ray of intellectual light was extinguished, 
and a darkness the most portentous and fearful, 
brooded over the face of the earth. 

235. The following may be enumerated as the 
more prominent features of the scholastic system 
of philosophising, when fully developed : (1.) The 
topics selected for the exercise of dialectic prowess, 
were at once the most abstruse and trifling — the 
most intricate and absurd. Instead of observing 
the phenomena of nature, or the operations of the 
human mind, these sophists were ever in pursuit 
of occult qualities, latent properties, and imaginary 
essences ; — the creatures of their own bewildered 
imaginations. " Intention and remission, propor- 
tion and degree, infinity, formality, quiddity, indi- 
viduality, and a thousand other abstract ideas," 
furnished them with innumerable subjects of specu- 
lation, and topics for discussion. The immense 



CHAP. III.]] SCHOLASTIC PHILOSOPHY. 295 

multitude of metaphysical questions most learnedly 
discussed in the ponderous volumes of scholastic 
divinity, renders it impracticable to exhibit even an 
outline of its distinguishing tenets. Suffice it to 
say, that the metaphysics of Plato, the logic of 
Aristotle, and the corrupt theology of the church of 
Rome, were amalgamated into one crude and inco- 
herent mass of unintelligible dogmas, which they 
honoured with the title of " the orthodox faith ;" 
and the slightest departure from which was esteemed 
a pernicious heresy. 

(2.) In discussing these topics, a most osten- 
tatious display was made of dialectic skill. A 
formidable array was brought forward, of axioms 
and postulates, lemmas and corrollaries, defi- 
nitions and syllogisms, arranged in the most 
systematic form, and employed in exact accord- 
ance with the rules of art. " The logic of the 
schoolmen," says Enfield, " was rather the art of 
sophistry than that of reasoning, for it was applied 
to subjects which were not understood, and em- 
ployed on principles which were not ascertained. 
Their whole business being disputation, they sought 
out such thorny questions as were likely to afford 
sufficient exercise for their ingenuity. Their whole 
care was to conduct themselves secundum artem, 
and their whole ambition to obtain the victory/' 
The object proposed by these logical prize-fighters, 
was not so much to elucidate truth, as to bear away 
the palm from their antagonists; and become cele- 
brated in the schools, as the acutest reasoners of 
their age. And it must be admitted, that some of 



296 SCHOLASTIC PHILOSOPHY. [PART III, 

the Scholastic philosophers were eminently success- 
ful in their object. Champeaux, Abelard, and a 
few others, displayed an extraordinary degree of 
talent in this science : by continual exercise, they 
became skilful adepts in the art of reasoning; 
prompt, ingenious, and subtle in debate; so as 
frequently, when discussing the most intricate sub- 
jects, to obtain the applause of multitudes, who 
assembled in the schools, not for instruction, but 
to witness the triumph or defeat of their respective 
masters. 

(3.) The language, in which these abstruse spe- 
culations were discussed, whether verbally or in 
writing, was a species of Latin the most barbarous 
and debased that can be imagined. Unlike their 
great preceptor, Aristotle, who wrote even his most 
technical treatises in pure classical Greek, and em- 
bellished some of his most abstruse speculations with 
rhetorical ornament ; the greater part of these sera- 
phic, angelical doctors — regardless alike of accuracy 
and ornament, in violation both of the rules of 
grammar and rhetoric — introduced a multitude of 
terms and phrases into the language once spoken 
by Cicero and Virgil and Livy, which neither they 
nor any other of the ancient Romans could possibly 
have comprehended. Nor does this corruption and 
debasement of the Roman dialect apply only to the 
more illiterate of these monks, but, with scarcely a 
single exception, to all the most renowned scholars 
who flourished during the four last of the middle 
ages. 

(4.) Nor must we omit to notice, among the 



CHAP. III.] SCHOLASTIC PHILOSOPHY. 297 

more prominent features of the Scholastic philo- 
sophy, the sectarian acrimony which it generated. 
Controversies arose, during the ages under review, 
which, though they related to unintelligible terms, 
and mere metaphysical subtilties, agitated the whole 
of Europe, and gave occasion to the most bitter 
animosities, and the deadliest hatred. Some of 
the rival sects will be adverted to in a future 
section, whose fierce contentions have almost be- 
come proverbial ; and " the controversy between 
whom, employed, for many ages, all the ingenuity 
and learning in Europe ; which, therefore, however 
frivolous in itself, deserves the attention of philo- 
sophers, as one of the most curious events which 
occurs in the history of the human mind." In these 
metaphysical combats, the sovereigns of Europe 
and the ministers of state, no less than monks, and 
prelates, and cardinals, and pontiffs, were in- 
volved ; and as either sect prevailed, their anta- 
gonists became the objects of cruel persecution 
and malignant revenge. Ludovicus Vives, who 
lived when some of these sectarian controversies 
were at their height, has faithfully pourtrayed, 
though in language too coarse and indelicate to be 
literally translated, the spirit in which they were 
carried on, and the disgraceful quarrels to which 
they led. " I have seen," says he, " the combatants, 
after having exhausted their stock of verbal abuse, 
proceed to blows: nor was it uncommon, in these 
quarrels about metaphysical terms and ideas, which 
neither party understood, to see the combatants 
first employing their fists, then their clubs, and, 



298 SCHOLASTICS. [PART III. 

finally, their swords, by which many were wounded 
and some killed." A more ludicrous species of 
persecution was exercised by Louis XI. who zea- 
lously espoused the cause of the Realists against the 
Nominalists. That prince, in a royal edict, issued 
a. d. 1474, not only banished all the Nominalists 
from his empire, and required the youth educated in 
the schools to abjure their tenets ; but also enjoined 
that their books should be secured in the monastic 
libraries with iron chains, so that none might peruse 
them. Mosheim, in his Ecclesiastical History, 
asserts, that " the contending sects carried their 
fury so far as to charge each other with " the sin 
against the Holy Ghost* ;" and that " the celebrated 
reformer, John Huss, fell a victim to the resentment 
of the Nominalists ; while, on the other hand, the 
Realists procured, in 1479, the condemnation of 
John de Wesalia, who had zealously opposed the 
tenets of their dominant sect. 



Section III. 

biographical notices of the earliest scholastic 
philosophers. 

236. The rise of the Scholastic philosophy can 
scarcely be dated further back than the commence- 
ment of the eleventh century. Its history has 

* Stewart's Elements of the Philosophy of the Human Mind, 
I. 169, 55S, 554;. Mosheim's Ch. Hist. Cent. xv. c. ii. § vii. 



CHAP. III.]] SCHOLASTICS. 299 

usually been divided into three periods: the first 
beginning with Lanfranc, and terminating with 
Albert, surnamed the Great; the second, extending 
from Albert to Occam; and the third, including the 
period between Occam and the Reformation ; an 
event which, combined with that of the revival of 
general literature, completed the destruction of the 
scholastic system. In the present section, a brief 
review will be taken of the principal schoolmen, who 
flourished during the first of the above-mentioned 
periods. 

(1.) Lanfranc was born at Pavia, in Italy, and 
flourished during the greater part of the eleventh 
century. In his youth, he became celebrated as 
a distinguished scholar, an eloquent orator, and a 
profound jurist. But renouncing, in maturer years, 
these flattering secular pursuits, he embraced the 
monastic life, and founded a celebrated school at 
Bee, in Normandy, where many of the most eminent 
sophists of that age received the elements of their 
education. So high was his reputation throughout 
Europe, that multitudes of youth of the highest 
rank earnestly sought admission into his seminary; 
and a still greater number attended on his public 
lectures. The historians of that period dwell with 
raptures on the erudition of Lanfranc, and the science 
which long characterized his school. The fame, 
however, of Lanfranc chiefly rests on his dialectic 
prowess, and that of his pupils, many of whom ex- 
celled their master in the art of disputation. While 
presiding over this college, he acquired high distinc- 
tion by the part which he took in a controversy then 



300 SCHOLASTICS. £PART III. 

existing relative to the doctrine of transubstan- 
tiation, known in the annals of ecclesiastical history, 
by the name of the Berengerian, or Sacramentarian 
controversy.* After having educated many emi- 
nent scholars at Bee, he was induced, by William of 
Normandy, (who had then recently obtained the 
English crown,) to relinquish his literary retirement, 
and become Primate of England. He was conse- 
crated Archbishop of Canterbury, in 1070, and died 
a. d. 1089. Lanfranc was the author of numerous 
treatises, chiefly on subjects connected with polemic 
theology, though some were of a more literary 
character, and all are celebrated for the comparative 
purity of their Latin style. 

(2.) Berenger, of Cologne, who is chiefly cele- 
brated as the originating cause of the famous con- 
troversy on the Eucharist, which agitated Europe 
at the commencement of the eleventh century ; 
Fulbert, Bishop of Chartres, under whom Berenger 
had studied logic and metaphysics ; and Bruno, a 
pupil of Berenger, and founder of the Carthusian 
order of monks ; all were distinguished ornaments of 
the Gallican church, and masters of the dialectic 
art, at a period in which logic was deemed the 
highest attainment of human genius. Their writings 
are now almost forgotten, though they are said to 
have been characterised by great subtilty of rea- 
soning, and many ingenious speculations. 

(3.) Anselm, a name familiar to every reader 
of English history, ranks high among those who 

* Vid. Dupin's Ch. Hist. 11th Cent. Mosheim's Ibid. 



CHAP. III.] SCHOLASTICS. 301 

received their education at Bee, under Lanfranc ; and, 
like his preceptor, was remarkable for the application 
of dialectic rules to the most profound subjects of 
metaphysical research, and the minutest distinctions 
of polemic theology. A considerable change was 
effected by the public lectures and writings of 
Anselm, which has been thus characterised by an 
intelligent modern historian : — " Logic, which, agree- 
ably to its primitive acceptation, denoted the art of 
just and solid reasoning, had degenerated into verbal 
controversies, the terms of which were unintelli- 
gible even to those who employed them. But 
Lanfranc and Anselm, by the greater purity of their 
style and perspicuity of their reasonings, introduced 
an important change into the philosophy of their 
age, especially in the departments of logic and 
metaphysics." Anselm composed a treatise entitled 
" The Grammarian" which was in reality, a prac- 
tical dissertation on logic. He was also the author 
of two works on metaphysical theology, entitled 
Monologion and Prosologion, from which even mo- 
dern polemics might derive some advantage. He 
succeeded Lanfranc in the presidency of the college 
of Bee, a. d. 1070 ; became abbot of the adjoining 
monastery in 1078 ; was elevated to the primacy of 
the English church in 1093, and died A. d. 1109. 
This celebrated ecclesiastic contributed more by his 
metaphysical abstractions towards the establishment 
of the Scholastic philosophy, than any of his con- 
temporaries.* 

* " Before these two great men opened their schools," say the 
authors of the Literary History of France, " the Latin spoken 



302 SCHOLASTICS. [>ART III. 

(4.) Roscelline flourished towards the close of 
the eleventh century, and is chiefly celebrated as the 
founder of the sect of the Nominalists* which after- 
wards became famous under the auspices of his more 
illustrious pupils. Of himself little is known, except 
that he was a native of Brittany, and canon of Com- 
peigne ; that he was acknowledged, even by his 
adversaries, to have possessed an acute and subtle 
genius ; and that by him certain innovations were 
introduced into the philosophical speculations of that 
age, which obtained a wide and rapid circulation 
after his death. 

(5.) Champeaux, Bishop of Catalan or Chalons, 
was a contemporary of Roscelline, but attached to 
the opposite sect of the Realists,* whose opinions 

in France was rude and barbarous— their philosophy was not 
worthy of the name ; and their theology was lifeless and void of 
precision. When they began to speak and write, a wonderful 
change ensued. Lanfranc taught the use of those arms in de- 
fence of christian belief, which theology supplies : his pupil 
Anselm undertook the solution of questions, which, before his 
time, were involved in darkness ; and shewing the conformity 
of his decisions with the authority of scripture, taught his dis- 
ciples, by a new method of argumentation, to reconcile reason 
with faith, while he directed philosophy to pursue the path of 
patient investigation." — BeringtorCs Lit. Hist. p. 261. 

* Of these two celebrated sects, it will be sufficient to state 
here, that the Nominalists were so called, because they main- 
tained that there are no real existences in nature corresponding 
to general terms, and that the objects of our attention in all 
abstract general speculations are not ideas but words. The 
Realists held that all individuals partake of the essence of their 
species, and are only modified by accidental causes, while their 
real essence remains unchanged. The question between them 
may be otherwise stated thus, — "whether universals have a real 



CHAP. Ill/] SCHOLASTICS. 303 

on the abstruse metaphysical question to which 
that controversy referred, he defended with the 
utmost zeal in the public schools of Paris. But both 
he and Roscelline owe more of their celebrity to 
their having been, at different periods, the precep- 
tors of Abelard, than to their own writings, or their 
public disputations. 

(6.) Abelard, the well-known founder of the 
Paraclete monastery, alike celebrated for his talents 
and his misfortunes, was born at Palais in Bretagne, 
a. d. 1079. His first preceptor was Roscelline, 
from whom he imbibed those metaphysical opinions 
to which he stedfastly adhered through life, and 
which indeed derived their principal lustre from his 
unrivalled talents and learning. He subsequently 
studied dialectics under William de Champeaux, 
but made an ungracious return for the instructions 
received from his venerable preceptor, by entering 
the lists with him in the public schools, and van- 
quishing him in several public disputations. Having 
thus acquired the reputation of an universal cham- 
pion in scholastic theology, he established nourishing 
seminaries of learning, first at Melun, and after- 
wards at Corbeil, near Paris, where he lectured 
publicly on logic and metaphysics to immense mul- 
titudes, and with the utmost applause. But the 
boldness of his speculations, and his high scholastic 
fame, soon raised him up hosts of adversaries, by 
whom he was denounced to the papal see as here- 

and essential, or only a nominal and verbal existence in indi- 
viduals." The Realists contended for the former, the Nominal- 
ists for the latter of these hypotheses. 



304 SCHOLASTICS. £PART III. 

tical ; and who continued to harass him with cease- 
less persecutions to the end of his days. He was 
the author of many treatises on subjects connected 
with the philosophy of that age, which have never 
been edited, though far superior to the mass of the 
scholastic writings, and indicating both greater re- 
finement of taste and extent of erudition. A single 
volume has been published, entitled " Christian 
Theology," which is characterised both by the acute- 
ness and absurdity of the scholastic system. Abelard 
died at the monastery of St. Marcellus, at Chalons, 
a. d. 1142, and was interred in the convent of the 
Paraclete. 

(7.) Peter Lombard, who studied theology and 
logic under Abelard, rivalled him both in dialectic 
subtilty and polemic zeal. He was a native of 
Lombardy, and became Archbishop of Paris, a. d. 
1151. During his life, and long after his death, he 
was known by the title of " Magister Sententiarum" 
on account of a work compiled by him, consisting of 
sentences extracted from the fathers, and questions 
for disputation. This became a standard book of 
high reputation in the theological schools, and was 
honoured with numerous commentaries. " When the 
Book of Sentences appeared, says a modern histo- 
rian, it was received with universal approbation, and 
its authority soon became so great in all the schools, 
that it was deemed inferior to none but the inspired 
writings. He who, in the discussion of any ques- 
tion, did not reason from the Master, reasoned 
in vain ; and men of the first talents could not 
employ them, it was thought, more worthily, than 



CHAP. II.] SCHOLASTICS. 305 

in expounding or illustrating what the Master had 
delivered." Beringtoris Lit. Hist. 

(8.) To the preceding Scholastics, all of whom 
belonged primarily to the Gallic church, may be 
added Gilbert de Porretan, Bishop of Poictiers, 
who, though deemed heretical by the rulers of the 
Roman-catholic Church, was unquestionably a keen 
and subtle disputant. To him are attributed many 
of the scholastic phrases, which afterwards became 
current among the sophists of that age, and nume- 
rous subtle theological distinctions, unintelligible 
alike to himself and his readers. Having presumed, 
in his writings, to maintain that " a distinction exists 
between nature and person, and that the essence of 
God is not God himself," with other cobweb refine- 
ments of a similar kind, he was denounced by the 
famous Bernard, (at that time the great champion 
of papal orthodoxy,) as a dangerous heretic, deprived 
for a time of his ecclesiastical dignities, compelled 
to retract his errors, and his books were publicly 
burnt. He contrived, however, to make his peace 
with the church, and was restored to his episcopal 
see, a short time before his death, which took place 

A. D. 1154. 

(9.) John of Salisbury, though usually classed with 
the Scholastics of this age, rises far above them in 
true wisdom and useful learning. He was not only 
a skilful dialectician, but also a considerable linguist, 
a proficient in physical science, and a faithful histo- 
rian of his own times. He studied at Paris under 
Abelard, and imbibed from that celebrated master, 
a taste for philosophy and science. He was the 

x 



306 SCHOLASTICS. [PART III. 

intimate friend of Thomas a Becket, by whom he 
was patronized in prosperity, and whom he after- 
wards accompanied in his exile. To this impartial 
writer we are indebted for the most faithful por- 
traiture of the learned men of his own age, whom 
he describes as " exhibiting the semblance, rather than 
the essence of knowledge ; as designedly rendering 
their disputations obscure, that they might obtain 
the greater credit for wisdom; and as frequently 
confounding, through ignorance, the Peripatetic and 
Platonic systems, while they professed the utmost 
veneration for Aristotle; and, finally, notwithstanding 
their high pretensions to learning, as not having 
contributed an iota towards the advancement of 
true science." The principal works of John of 
Salisbury were, his Metalogicon, which contained 
treatises on grammar, philology, and the logic of 
Aristotle ; and his Policraticon, which gives a lively 
description of the manners of the age, boldly cen- 
sures the vices of the great, and exposes the ignorance 
and ambition of the ecclesiastical orders. Of this 
work, a competent witness in modern times has 
given the following character :--" When I read some 
years ago," says Berington, in his Literary History 
of the Middle Ages, " the Polycraticon, it seemed to 
display great erudition, and to be replete with moral 
notions, sentences, passages of authors, examples, 
apologues, extracts of history, common-places and 
citations from the best classical writers. But it 
appeared to be an ill-digested mass of learning, 
neither directed by a sound judgment nor embel- 
lished by taste. Notwithstanding its imperfections, 



CHAP. II-3 SCHOLASTICS. 307 

it is a valuable monument of literature ; and exhibits, 
in a pleasing manner, the talents, the good sense, 
and the learning of John of Salisbury. " 

(10.) The last of the Scholastics of the first period, 
whom it is requisite to mention distinctly, was Hales, 
Abbot of Glocester, who was dignified with the high- 
sounding title of "the irrefragable doctor." He also 
was one of the disciples of Abelard at Paris, and 
became celebrated for his skill in metaphysical theo- 
logy. He wrote commentaries on the " Book of 
Sentences" of Peter Lombard, and on the " Meta- 
physics of Aristotle," much admired at the time for 
their reputed ingenuity and learning, but long since 
buried in oblivion. 



Section IV. 

SCHOLASTICS OF THE MIDDLE PERIOD. 

237. The second or middle period of the history 
of scholasticism may be considered as commencing 
with the thirteenth century, when a considerable 
number of the most renowned advocates of that 
system simultaneously laboured with incredible zeal 
and diligence for its advancement. To a few of 
these it will be requisite to advert in this place, 
whose celebrity, when living, and long after their 
death, attaches an importance to their name and 
memory, to which otherwise neither their learning 
nor talents could have entitled them. 

x 2 



308 SCHOLASTICS. [PART III. 

(1.) Albert, surnamed the Great, (who has been 
already classed with the scientific philosophers of 
the middle ages, on account of his mechanical skill,) 
was chiefly indebted to his logical science and 
polemic zeal for his living and posthumous fame. 
He was born in Swabia, a.d. 1193 ; became a domi- 
nican friar when about thirty years of age ; and was 
subsequently employed in teaching philosophy at 
the public schools of Cologne and Paris, or in 
writing ponderous volumes on abstract metaphysical 
speculations, till his death, which took place a.d. 
1280. This indefatigable author wrote on an 
almost endless variety of subjects, as appears from 
his works, which were collected and published after 
his death in no less than twenty-one folio volumes, 
including treatises on theology, ethics, metaphysics, 
logic, natural philosophy, natural history, and the 
mathematics. He seems to have traversed the whole 
circle of theological, moral, intellectual, and physical 
science. If the value of Albert's writings could 
be estimated by their number or magnitude, he 
must be acknowledged to have been no ordinary 
contributor to the stores of general knowledge : but 
the history of the period under review goes far to 
prove that the estimate must be taken in an inverse 
ratio, and that in proportion as the writings were 
voluminous, they were trifling and useless. The 
portion of the works of Albert, which alone can be 
regarded with interest in modern times, is that which 
relates to practical and experimental philosophy. 
From him arose the sect of the Albertines, frequently 
alluded to by the ecclesiastical historians of that age. 



CHAP. II-3 SCHOLASTICS. 309 

(2.) Bonaventure ranks high in scholastic fame, 
and was honoured with the title of " the seraphic 
doctor" on account of the ardour of his devotion to 
the Virgin Mary. He was born in Tuscany, a.d. 
1221 ; — studied theology and logic under Hales ;— - 
graduated at Paris ; — and became Franciscan friar 
at the same time with his renowned contemporary, 
Thomas Aquinas. He was created Cardinal by 
Pope Gregory ; and died while attending the second 
general council of Lyons, a.d. 1279. The most 
remarkable of his productions was, " A Dissertation 
on the application of the Arts to Theology, " which 
affords," says Enfield, " a curious specimen of the 
manner in which the mystical divines of that age 
transferred the Scholastic philosophy to theology." 

(3.) But the chief glory of the Scholastic age was 
the illustrious Thomas Aquinas, to whom his con- 
temporaries and idolaters, with one consent, awarded 
the title of " the angelical doctor" This prodigy 
of learning, as he was generally considered, was 
born of a noble family at Aquino, in Italy, a.d. 1224, 
educated first in the monastery of Mount Cassino, 
then at Naples, and finally at Paris, under Albert 
the Great. He subsequently became theological 
lecturer of Cologne, Paris, and Rome. So extrava- 
gant were the encomia passed upon him by his 
ignorant and superstitious devotees, that some sup- 
posed him to have inherited the soul of Augustine, 
others of Aristotle, and some even of St. Peter him- 
self. With a slender knowledge of the Greek and 
Arabic tongues, he contrived to pass for a prodigy 
of learning in a dark age ; and by dexterously blend- 



310 SCHOLASTICS. [PART III. 

ing the Peripatetic and Eclectic systems of philoso- 
phy with the reasoning of the Greek and Latin 
fathers, he gained the reputation of a profound 
theologian. His most celebrated writings are, 
" The Sum of Theology," in which a great variety 
of trifling and absurd questions in metaphysical 
theology are most gravely and learnedly discussed ; 
his " Commentary on P. Lombard's Book of Sen- 
tences ;" and " Annotations on the Analytics, Meta- 
physics, and Ethics of Aristotle? Speculative 
philosophy was the only element in which Aquinas 
could breathe ; but all physical science was either 
despised by him as useless, or denounced as the re- 
sult of necromancy and witchcraft. This phenome- 
non suddenly disappeared in the midst of its glory, 
and whilst all Europe was gazing with an admiration 
little short of idolatry upon the splendour of its intel- 
lectual course. This celebrated Scholastic theologian 
died in the fiftieth year of his age, while on his way 
to the council of Lyons, which was held a. d. 1279. 
(4.) Contemporary with Bonaventure and Aqui- 
nas, who belonged to the Italian and French schools 
of philosophy, were two of the English school, who, 
if not equal in fame, were far superior in general 
and useful knowledge. These were Grosteste, (or 
Greathead,) Bishop of Lincoln, and Roger Bacon, 
the father of English philosophy. Though both of 
these are usually classed with the Scholastics, their 
science and erudition may justly entitle them to a 
more venerable station in the republic of letters. 
Having before alluded particularly to Friar Bacon, 
it is now unnecessary to say more respecting him, 



CHAP. II.] SCHOLASTICS. 311 

than that much of his attention was given, and many 
of his posthumous works relate, to intellectual as 
well as physical science, though the latter was his 
favourite study. He applied himself diligently to 
the acquisition of the Greek and Hebrew languages, 
then very imperfectly known even to the best 
scholars. He prepared, in the retirement of his 
monastic cell, erudite works on history, jurispru- 
dence, dialectic and metaphysical theology, as well as 
on mathematical and physical subjects. The literary 
history of Grosteste is less known, though he occu- 
pies a distinguished place in the ecclesiastical history 
of our country. His celebrity is partly founded on 
the strenuous opposition made by him to the en- 
croachments of the Roman pontiff, and partly on 
the testimony of Roger Bacon to his genius and 
learning, who, though usually parsimonious of 
praise, and much more inclined to censure than 
to eulogise his contemporaries, classes him with 
" Aristotle and Solomon," and describes him as " the 
only learned man of his age." Some of his works 
were mathematical, others critical ; but the greater 
portion consists of philosophical and theological 
tracts. It may be particularly mentioned 1 to the 
honour of this pious and learned prelate, that while 
the seraphic and angelic doctors were laboriously 
employed in writing commentaries on Peter Lom- 
bard, or Augustine, Grosteste was employed in scrip- 
tural researches, and in diligent study of the Hebrew 
and Greek original texts, that he might be the 
better enabled to comprehend and interpret the 
sacred writings. Grosteste, like his celebrated coun- 



312 SCHOLASTICS. [jPART III. 

tryman and contemporary, Roger Bacon, was far 
too enlightened for the age in which he lived ; both 
were charged with necromancy, and suffered perse- 
cution on this account ; and both became objects of 
jealousy to the ecclesiastical authorities of the church 
of Rome. He died a.d. 1253. 

(5.) Passing once more to Paris, which was the 
strong hold of scholasticism at this period, we meet 
with Column a, an Italian by birth, and monk of 
the Augustine order, who was preceptor to the sons 
of Philip III. of France, and taught philosophy 
and theology in the university of Paris with so great 
reputation, as to acquire the title of " most profound 
doctor T If his real character as a philosopher cor- 
responded with the inscription upon his tomb, de- 
noting that " he was a luminary who brought light 
out of darkness," he must have differed widely from 
the rest of his scholastic brethren ; but as far as his 
writings are now known, they utterly discredit the 
testimony of his sepulchral monument, for they are 
amongst the most obscure productions of that age 
of intellectual darkness. In connexion with Co- 
lumna may be mentioned Robert de Sorbonne, who 
also flourished about the middle of the thirteenth 
century. He was an acute and distinguished 
logician ; but is better known as the founder of the 
theological college at Paris, which still continues 
to bear his name. 

(6.) Towards the close of the thirteenth century, 
flourished at Oxford and Paris, Duns Scotus, the 
pupil and rival in scholastic fame of Thomas Aqui- 
nas. He was designated " the most subtile doctor" on 



CHAP. IlJ SCHOLASTICS. 313 

account of his acuteness and subtil ty in disputation. 
His reputation at one period of Ms life (the whole 
of which was short, for he died in his thirty-fourth 
year,) was such, that not less than thirty thousand 
youths are said to have flocked from all parts of 
Europe to attend his public lectures. His works, 
when collected, amounted to twelve folio volumes. 
But he is chiefly known as the founder of a new 
sect among the Scholastics of the thirteenth and 
fourteenth centuries, known by the name of the 
Scotists, in distinction from the Thomists, who ad- 
hered to the opinions of Thomas Aquinas. The 
difference between these rival and hostile sects 
related to some abstruse points of metaphysical 
divinity, into which it is not our present business 
to enter. " The ingenuity of Duns Scotus," says 
Enfield, " was wholly employed in embarrassing with 
new fictions of abstraction, and with other scho- 
lastic distinctions, subjects already sufficiently per- 
plexed." 

The above list of Scholastics of the middle period, 
might easily be enlarged ; but little advantage could 
result from the mere enumeration of names de- 
servedly forgotten ; or a transient reference to 
works, which, though indicative of great labour, 
tended rather to obscure than enlighten the human 
understanding. 



314 SCHOLASTICS. [PART III. 

Section V. 

SCHOLASTICS OF THE THIRD PERIOD. 

238. The portion of the history of Scholasticism, 
which was rapidly traversed in the last section, in- 
cludes that of its greatest prosperity. It had then 
attained its highest elevation, and exercised a des- 
potism over the understandings of men, almost as 
oppressive as that which the papal hierarchy had long 
usurped over their religious faith and practice. But 
during the period now to be reviewed, its power 
was shaken, its influence gradually diminished, and 
the struggle commenced which terminated in its 
destruction. There were still many, who remained 
servilely attached to the logic of Aristotle and the 
sophistry of the schools. Perhaps there was never 
a period in which the Peripatetic philosophy was 
more dominant. The reverence for the writings of 
Aristotle was so great, that no more direct road to 
scholastic fame could be devised than that of deliver- 
ing public lectures, or writing commentaries on 
parts of these ancient documents; and, in some 
instances, they were even read in public during 
divine worship, instead of the pages of inspiration. 
A long train of schoolmen might be brought for- 
ward, who flourished during the thirteenth and 
fourteenth centuries, who spent all their days in 
poring over the " categories or analytics," which had 
become the more celebrated, now that their Greek 
originals were known, and Grecian literature had 
revived. But amidst all, indications were not want- 



CHAP. II.] SCHOLASTICS. 315 

ing of the approach of a happier aera. Light began 
to dawn, though faintly, on several parts of Europe. 
In Italy, a taste for classical literature began to 
revive under the auspices of a few ardent scholars, 
and a small band of illustrious patrons of learning. 
In England, Wickliffe aimed an effectual blow at 
the Scholastic system, by his theological writings, 
and especially by his venerable translation of the 
Scriptures. In France, the sect of the Nominalists, 
which had languished from the time of Abelard, 
revived, and with it a freedom of inquiry and inde- 
pendence of speech and writing, which led to the 
most important consequences. This was chiefly 
effected by Durand and Occam, who were contem- 
poraries, and in part coadjutors, in the work. 

(1.) Occam was educated at Oxford, under Duns 
Scotus; but after the death of his preceptor, he 
renounced the sect of the Realists, and revived 
that of the Nominalists, though under a new name. 
His followers assumed the title of Occamists, to avoid 
the odium which then attached to the opinions of 
Roscelline and Abelard, and honoured their master 
with the appellation of " the invincible doctor" on 
account of the tenacity with which he maintained, 
and the splendid success with which he defended, his 
philosophical opinions. It required, at that period, 
no common degree of moral heroism to lift up 
a standard against the opinions of such men as 
Aquinas and Albert and Scotus, and dispute their 
authority, even on the most abstruse metaphysical 
questions. This offence might, however, have been 
forgiven, had not Occam proceeded farther, and 



316 SCHOLASTICS. [PART III, 

assailed the Colossus of papal power, and exposed 
the indolenee, the ignorance, and the profligacy, of 
the monastic orders. Having directed his attention 
to jurisprudence, he wrote several tracts on " Civil 
and Ecclesiastical Law ;" the object of which was, 
to define their respective boundaries, and point out 
their legitimate authority. These treatises, though 
written, after the fashion of that age, in barbarous 
Latin, and in a dry systematic manner, produced a 
strong sensation throughout the Roman church, and 
excited the utmost alarm. Their author was re- 
quired to retract his errors; and on his refusing 
to do this, was excommunicated. Besides these, 
his more valuable writings, (valuable, as having 
contributed, in some degree, to shake the throne 
of papal supremacy, and prepare the way for the 
Protestant Reformation,) Occam was the author of 
several dialectic treatises on the " Predicables of 
Porphyry, and the Categories of Aristotle," and of 
numerous controversial pieces in defence of the 
opinions of the Nominalists. 

(2.) Durand was a native of Clermont, who 
taught logic and metaphysics in the university of 
Paris, in the earlier part of his life ; and was subse- 
quently elevated to the bishopric of Meaux. He 
zealously espoused the cause of the Scotists, in 
opposition to the followers of Thomas Aquinas. 
His public lectures and writings were characterized 
by a boldness and independence that procured for 
him the title of " most resolute doctor" " He took," 
says Dupin, in his Ecclesiastical History of this 
period, " from former philosophers what he thought 



CHAP. II.]] SCHOLASTICS. 317 

proper, without tying himself down to the principles 
of any, and advanced many new opinions. After 
him the divines took more liberty, and many novel 
systems were invented." 

(3.) Burley, who was surnamed, though for what 
reason it is difficult to conjecture, " the perspicuous 
doctor" was preceptor to Edward III. of England, 
and one of the most renowned Scholastics of his age. 
He wrote, on ethics, physics, logic, metaphysics, and 
theology, works which have long since been for- 
gotten. The treatise which is best known is, that 
on the " Lives and Manners of the Ancient Philoso- 
phers," into which were introduced, biographical 
notices of all the Greek and Roman philosophers, 
from Thales to Seneca. 

(4.) Raymond Lully, flourished somewhat earlier 
than either of the above-mentioned Scholastics, but 
is usually classed with them, on account of the 
novelty of his opinions, and his unwearied and per- 
severing efforts to introduce into the schools a new 
method of philosophizing. This " most enlightened 
doctor" (for such was the distinctive appellation 
given to him by the schoolmen,) is said to have 
greatly excelled in chemistry and medicine ; but his, 
fame chiefly rests on his celebrated invention, known 
by the name of the " Great Art" which professed 
to furnish adequate means for the attainment of 
every species of science in its highest degree. The 
proficients in this art were to be enabled thereby 
to invent arguments, mechanically, on all kinds of 
topics, but especially on all connected with logic, 
metaphysics, and theology. Perhaps the whole 



318 SCHOLASTICS. £PART III. 

history of mankind does not furnish an instance of 
greater absurdity under the veil of profound science, 
than that of the mechanical logic of this fanatic. 
Yet, such was the ignorance and credulity of the 
age in which this boasted invention was promul- 
gated, that it is celebrated by most of the historians, 
as one of the proudest efforts of human genius, 
placing its inventor on a level with the greatest 
philosophers of antiquity. 

239. If it were the design of this work to trace 
the progess of general literature, its writer would 
dwell with pleasure on the aspect which Italy pre- 
sented during the greater part of the fourteenth 
century. He would record the munificent patron- 
age of the princes of the house of Medici— the 
ardent and unwearied labours of Petrarca, Boccacio, 
Poggio Bracciolini, and others, in exploring the 
monastic libraries, and bringing thence the most 
valuable remains of classical antiquity, — or the useful 
exertions of a literary band of exiled Greeks, who, 
driven from their own country by the calamities of 
war, settled in Italy, and diligently employed them- 
selves either in the collation of Greek MSS. or 
translating them into a Latin dialect, far superior to 
that which prevailed in the schools. These, how- 
ever reluctantly, we must pass over, as falling with- 
out the prescribed line of this elementary work. 
Those individuals among them can alone be selected, 
who contributed to the revival, if not the advance- 
ment of intellectual science. Among these, the 
justly celebrated Petrarca stands preeminent; who 
flourished about the middle of the fourteenth 



CHAP. IlJ SCHOLASTICS. 319 

century. Though chiefly known to posterity as a 
man of taste and letters, he occupies no mean place 
among the philosophers of his age. His ethical 
writings have been greatly admired, both for the 
purity of their style, and the comparative excellence 
of their sentiments. It is a most grateful change to 
the intellectual inquirer, after having been wearied 
with the frivolous and unintelligible logomachies of 
the schoolmen, to meet with essays on subjects con- 
nected with true philosophy ; such as " the contempt 
of the world,"—" the remedies of fortune," or, " the 
dangers of self-ignorance." Argyropulus, a native 
of Constantinople, patronised by the house of 
Medici, and his fellow countryman, Chrysoloras, 
with many others of inferior reputation who might 
be enumerated, rendered important services to phi- 
losophy, by their translations of the recently dis- 
covered remains of the Grecian philosophers, and 
their critical commentaries on the works of Plato, 
Aristotle, and Epicurus. 



PART IN. 

THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY & SCIENCE 

CONTINUED FROM THE REVIVAL OF LETTERS TO THE 
CLOSE OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 



CHAPTER I. 

INTRODUCTORY. 

Sect. I. 

ON THE CAUSES OF THE REVIVAL OF LETTERS. 

240. We may at length congratulate ourselves 
on having crossed the great desert, which occupies 
so large a space in the chart of human science, and 
reached the borders of a region characterized by an 
extraordinary degree of intellectual luxuriance and 
fruitfulness. As it is grateful, after a long wintry 
night, to observe the earliest indications of dawning 
day, so, in emerging from the darkness of the middle 
ages, is it most cheering to the intellectual enquirer, 
to fix his eye on some of those morning stars of 
genius, which afforded a sure presage, that the sun 
of science was about to arise and shine upon the 
earth. The analogy may be traced one step fur- 
ther. As in the physical world we do not perceive 
a sudden and immediate transition from midnight 



CHAP. I.] REVIVAL OF LETTERS. 321 

darkness to the splendour of noon-day, or from the 
dreary barrenness of the desert to the richest verdure 
and most abundant fruitfulness ; so neither can we 
expect, in passing from the review of ages charac- 
terised by sterility and mental darkness, to be 
dazzled at once with the lustre of pre-eminent genius, 
or to reap the full harvest of physical and moral 
science. Yet, imperfect as their first attempts, and 
limited as their attainments may have been, who 
first rent asunder the fetters of ignorance, and con- 
tributed to the dispersion of intellectual darkness, 
they are by no means to be overlooked, nor should 
their labours be lightly esteemed. 

241. It is an interesting object of inquiry, " what 
were the causes which cooperated to effect the 
emancipation of the human mind from the thraldom 
in which it had been held, and who were the dis- 
tinguished individuals by whose instrumentality it 
was effected ?" To this inquiry it will be attempted, 
in the present section, to furnish a brief reply. The 
principal causes of the revival of letters, which took 
place towards the close of the fifteenth century, 
may be classed under three general heads— -political, 
literary, and moral. In adverting to these, it may 
be requisite to pass over some of the ground which 
has been already trodden ; but perhaps this is not 
to be regretted, since it may serve to impress more 
deeply on the memory, facts which in themselves 
were highly important, and in their results have 
proved incalculably beneficial. 

(1.) Among the political causes of this intellectual 
phenomenon may be enumerated, the fall of the 

Y 



322 REVIVAL OF LETTERS. [PART IV. 

eastern empire, and the conquest of Turkey and 
Greece by the Saracens ; the effect of which was to 
disperse the men of learning, who resided in those 
provinces, through the continent of Europe, but 
more especially to enlighten those countries which lay 
contiguous to the Ottoman empire, — the gradual 
demolition of the feudal system, and consequent 
elevation of the lower orders of society to wealth 
and importance, — the study and practice of juris- 
prudence, by which the administration of justice was 
secured, and civilization promoted,— the intolerable 
oppression of the papal hierarchy, which, though 
tamely submitted to during many ages, at length 
became so galling a yoke, that both princes and 
their subjects stood prepared to shake it off, — and, 
finally, the consolidation of the civil governments of 
Europe, under the administration of more enlight- 
ened princes, who became the zealous patrons of 
learning and science. 

242. (2.) On the literary causes of this impor- 
tant change in the aspect and condition of society, 
it will be proper to enter somewhat more into de- 
tail. The first, and perhaps the greatest of these, 
was the invention of the art of printing, a brief 
history of which has been already given. Circum- 
stanced as we now are, it is not easy to conceive of 
the mighty impulse which this valuable discovery 
must have given to the operations of the human 
mind. " For us, (says Stewart, in his admirable 
Dissertation on the Progress of Mental Philosophy, 
to which we shall have frequent occasion to refer in 
subsequent pages,) — " for us, who have been accus- 



CHAP. I/] REVIVAL OF LETTERS. 323 

tomed, from our infancy, to the use of books, it is 
not easy to form an adequate idea of the disad- 
vantages which those laboured under, who had to 
acquire the whole of their knowledge through the 
medium of universities and schools ; blindly devoted, 
as the generality of students must then have been, 
to the peculiar opinions of the teacher, who first 
unfolded to their curiosity the treasures of literature 
and the wonders of science. Thus error was per- 
petuated ; and, instead of yielding to time, acquired 
additional influence in each succeeding generation. 
But the art of printing, by rendering the taught less 
dependent on their teachers, and by opening more 
widely the sources of knowledge, served quickly to 
break down these ancient barriers, and emancipated 
the human mind from its bondage." — Stewart's 
Dissert, ut sup. pp. 24, 25. 

The next cause of the revival of letters, at the 
period under review, which may be properly termed 
literary, was, the discovery, and, by means of the art 
of printing, the easy and rapid distribution of those 
stores of ancient learning, which had been for many 
ages immured in monastic libraries, and were scarcely 
known to exist ; and, in connexion with this, the 
arrival in Italy, and other parts of Europe, of a 
considerable number of learned Greeks, formerly 
resident at Constantinople, who assiduously and 
honourably employed themselves in unfolding the 
treasures of Grecian literature by means of Latin 
versions. This awakened the attention of European 
scholars to the importance of obtaining a critical 
acquaintance with the Greek tongue, and at the 

y2 



324 REVIVAL OF LETTERS. [PART IV. 

same time afforded them every facility they could 
desire. The former of these incentives to literary 
exertion, was furnished by the generous enthusiasm 
of such men as Petrarca, Boccacio, and Poggio 
Bracciolini ; the latter, by the indefatigable labours of 
Chrysoloras, Argyropulus, Pletho, Theodore Gaza, 
Lascario, Bessarion, Trebizond, with many others. 

A third cause, which cooperated with those 
just enumerated to produce this happy result, 
was, the existence, at that period, of a few dis- 
tinguished individuals, who were insatiable in their 
thirst for knowledge, and who could no longer 
be content to follow the dull routine of dialec- 
tics and metaphysics, hitherto exclusively taught 
in the schools. These persons were men of let- 
ters, rather than philosophers. Their talents were 
chiefly directed to the critical investigation of the 
classical writings of antiquity then recently brought 
into notice, and their great object was to revive a 
taste for the study of Roman and Grecian literature. 
They laboured, therefore, with incredible assiduity, 
in the department of philology, and substituted 
the rules of criticism for the subtilties of scholastic 
logic and metaphysical theology. This taste, which 
characterised, in a great measure, the writings of 
the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, was generated 
and nurtured by the personal influence and success- 
ful labours of those distinguished scholars enume- 
rated above; to whom might be added, Erasmus, 
Ludovicus Vives, Melancthon, Budaeus, William de 
Wykeham, Sir Thomas More, with many others, 
who will be more distinctly noticed hereafter. 



CHAP. I.] REVIVAL OF LETTERS. 325 

243. (3.) Among the moral causes, which operated 
most powerfully to subvert the authority of the 
schoolmen, as well as to effect a yet more important 
revolution in the opinions of mankind, the principal 
was the Reformation from Popery, It forms no 
part of our present design to investigate the causes 
or trace the progress of the Protestant Reforma- 
tion ; a subject which belongs more properly to 
ecclesiastical history than to that of philosophy and 
science. At present, it is only contemplated as 
exerting a mighty and resistless influence on the 
intellectual attainments and pursuits, not only of 
the Reformers themselves, but indirectly and more 
remotely on the general mass of society. " The 
renunciation," says Stewart, " in a great part of 
Europe, of theological opinions so long consecrated 
by time, and the adoption of a creed more pure in 
its principles and more liberal in its spirit, could 
not fail to encourage, on all other subjects, a con- 
genial freedom of inquiry. These circumstances 
operated still more directly and powerfully by their 
influence in undermining the authority of Aristotle ; 
an authority, which, for many years, was scarcely 
inferior to that of the Scriptures, and which, in 
some universities, was supported by statutes, re- 
quiring the teachers to promise upon oath, that in 
their public lectures they would follow no other 
guide."* The keen satire of Erasmus, the tre- 
mendous thunders of the Saxon Reformer, the mild 
philosophical reasonings of Melancthon, contributed, 
though in different degrees, and by widely different 

* Stewart's Diss. p. 23. 



326 SCIENTIFIC PHILOSOPHERS. [j>ART IV. 

methods, to the same valuable end. They taught 
men to think, to reason, and to judge for themselves. 
They substituted the authority of truth for that 
of ancient tradition and venerated names. They 
inculcated, both by precept and example, the duty 
of " proving all things, and holding fast that which 
is good." 



Section II. 

CLASSIFICATION OF INTELLECTUAL AND SCIENTIFIC 

PHILOSOPHERS of the 16th & 17th centuries. 

244. Following the arrangement which has been 
adopted in the former divisions of this work, pre- 
viously to a cursory review of the scientific disco- 
veries and philosophical researches which shed a 
lustre on the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, a 
general classification will be attempted of the indi- 
viduals engaged in these pursuits. In doing this, 
it is evident that a selection is necessary ; for the 
arena becomes so thronged, as we proceed, that it 
would be scarcely possible even to enumerate, and 
much less to sketch, the literary history of all who con- 
tributed to the advancement of science. The prin- 
ciple on which that selection will be made, is that of 
noticing exclusively those, who, either by the pre- 
eminence of their genius, or by the fame of their 
writings, or by some specific discovery in philosophy 
or science, acquired, and justly merit, an honourable 
distinction. The following tables will exhibit, at 
one view, the persons who nourished in each of the 
above-mentioned centuries, and the department in 



CHAP. lj SCIENTIFIC PHILOSOPHERS. 327 

which they principally excelled. A few names, it 
will be perceived, occur in both lists, because they 
may, with equal propriety, be classed with the 
scientific and intellectual philosophers of their age. 

I.-SCIENTIFIC PHILOSOPHERS, 

From 1450 to 1600. 



NAME. COUNTRY. BORN. DIED. 

Baptista Porta Naples 1445 1515 

Werner Nuremberg 1468 1528 

Copernicus Thorn, in Prussia 1472 1543 

Nonius Alcazar, Portugal 1492 1577 

Maurolycus Messina, in Sicily 1494 1575 

Cardan Milan 1501 1575 

Tartaglia Brescia 

Fernel Paris 1506 1558 

Commandine Urbino 1509 1575 

Reinhold Wirtemberg 1511 1553 

Ramus Picardy 1515 1572 

Stiphelius Nuremberg (Jl. 1550) 

Bombelli Bologna (ibid. 1579) 

Vieta Fontenoy , , 1540 1 603 

Tycho Brahe Knudstorp, in Denmark 1546 1601 

Napier Marchiston, in Scotland 1550 1616 

Ubaldi Italy 1553 1617 

H. Briggs Halifax 1556 1630 

Albert Girard Flanders 1634 

Harriott Oxford 1560 1621 

Bacon (Lord Verulam) London 1561 1626 

Galileo Florence 1564 1642 

Antoni D. Dominis . . Archbishop of Spalatio ■ ■ 1625 

Kepler Wirtemberg 1571 1630 

Gregory St. Vincent . . Netherlands 1584 1667 

Fermat Toulouse 1590 1664 

Snellius Leyden {Jl. 1617) 

Gassendi Provence 1592 1655 

Des Cartes Touraine 1596 1650 

Riccioli Ferrara 1598 1671 

Cavalleri .-. Milan 1598 

Stevinus Flanders (Jl. 1586—1635) 

Castelli Italy {Jl. 1628) 



328 SCIENTIFIC PHILOSOPHERS. [PART IV. 

II.— SCIENTIFIC PHILOSOPHERS, 

From 1600 to 1700. 



NAME. COUNTRY. BORN. DIED. 

Toricelli Italy 1608 1647 

Roberval France (Jl. 1646) 

Hevelius Dantzic 1611 1687 

Mercator Holstein 1616 1688 

Wallis Ashford, in Kent 1616 1703 

Ward Buntingford 1617 1662 

Horrox Texteth, in Lancashire . . 1619 1640 

Otto Guericke Magdeburg (Jl. 1654) 

Marriotte Burgundy 1684 

Brouncker Castle Lyons 1620 1684 

Pascal (Blaise) Claremont 1 623 1 662 

Boyle Canterbury 1626 1690 

Huygens. Hague 1629 1695 

Barrow Suffolk 1630 1677 

Spinosa Amsterdam 1633 1677 

Cassini (the Elder) Piedmont 1635 1712 

Hook Isle of Wight 1635 1702 

Gregory (James) Aberdeen 1639 1675 

Picard (Abb£) France 1683 

Newton (Sir Isaac) .. Woolstrope 1642 1727 

Roemer Jutland 1644 1710 

Leibnitz Leipsic . , 1646 1716 

Flamsteed Den by, in Derbyshire . . 1646 1719 

Bernoulli (James) Basil 1654 1705 

Halley London 1656 1742 

D'Hopital (Marquis) Auvergne 1661 1704 

Bernoulli (John) Basil 1667 1747 

Boerhaave Leyden 1668 1738 

Cassini (the Younger) Paris... 1672 1756 

Richer France (Jl. 1672) 

Bradley Sherbourne 1692 1762 



CHAP. I.] SCIENTIFIC PHILOSOPHERS. 



329 



III.— INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHERS, 

Who flourished from a.d. 1450 to 1700. 



NAMES. 

Erasmus 

Budasus 

Machiavel 

More (Sir Thomas) .... 

Luther 

Scaliger (Julius Caesar) . . 

Ludovicus Vives 

Melancthon 

Bodinus 

Ramus 

Montaigne 

Scaliger (Jos. Just.) .... 

Lipsius 

Thuanus (De Thou.) . . 

Casaubon 

Bacon (Lord Chancellor) 

Bruno . , 

Campanella 

Usher (Archbishop) .... 

Grotius 

Hobbes 

Gassendi 

Des Cartes 

Arnauld 

More (Dr. Henry) .... 

Cudworth 

Barrow 

Puffendorf 

Huetius 

Locke 

Spinosa 

Malebranehe 

Leibnitz 

Bayle 

Fontenelle 

Clarke (Dr. Samuel) . . 
Berkeley (Bishop) 
Montesquieu 



COUNTRY. BORN. DIED. 

Rotterdam 1466 1536 

Paris 1467 1540 

Florence 1469 1550 

London.., 1480 1535 

Saxony 1483 1546 

Verona 1484 1558 

Valencia 1492 1536 

Bretten 1497 1560 

Angers • 1585 

Picardy 1515 1572 

Perigord 1533 1592 

Agen 1540 1609 

Louvain 1547 1606 

1553 1617 

Geneva 1559 1614 

London 1561 1626 

Nola, in Naples 1600 

Calabria 1568 1639 

Dublin 1580 1657 

Delft, in Holland 1583 1645 

Malmesbury 1588 1679 

Provence 1592 1655 

Touraine 1598 1650 

Paris 1612 1694 

Grantham 1614 1687 

Somersetshire 1617 1688 

Suffolk 1630 1677 

Saxony 1630 1694 

Avranche 1630 1721 

Wrington, near Bristol . . 1632 1704 

Amsterdam 1633 1677 

Paris 1638 1715 

Leipsic 1646 1716 

Foix 1647 1706 

Rouen 1657 1756 

Norwich 1675 1729 

Thomastown 1684 1753 

Bourdeaux 1689 1755 



330 MATHEMATICIANS. [PART IV. 

CHAPTER II. 

THE PROGRESS OF THE ABSTRACT SCIENCES. 



Section I. 

ON the principal mathematicians of the six- 
teenth CENTURY. 

245. The history of mathematical science has 
been sketched, both in its earliest period and its 
intermediate stages : we now proceed to view it 
in its full vigour and maturity of growth. The 
retrospect of the scientific history of the middle 
ages, it will be remembered, terminated with two 
illustrious individuals, Purbach and Regiomonta- 
nus s the latter of whom died towards the close of 
the fifteenth century. But the impulse of his genius 
was felt long after his death, and its effects were 
quickly apparent in the rapid improvement of those 
sciences, to the cultivation of which his distinguished 
talents had been devoted. Among those who seem 
to have been stimulated by his example, and en- 
couraged by his brilliant success, was Werner, who 
is stated to have been " the first among the moderns 
acquainted with the method of geometrical analy- 
sis." In an earlier part of this elementary history, 
some account was given of the invention of this 
beautiful method of demonstration. (§ 72.) It seems, 
however, to have been long forgotten, if not wholly 



CHAP. II.3 MATHEMATICIANS. 331 

lost in subsequent ages : nor was any book known 
to exist which contained a development of this 
system, by the help of which the ancient mathe- 
maticians were enabled to demonstrate so many 
simple and elegant propositions. " Euclid's Data" 
was the only work then discovered, bearing, how- 
ever remotely, on the subject. With this slender 
assistance, Werner re-discovered the " Method of 
Analysis," and applied it to the solution of some of 
the most difficult problems. His mathematical 
works are now little known, having been long since 
superseded by others of far greater value. 

246. Cardan and Tartaglia were contemporary 
algebraists, whose united labours contributed in no 
ordinary degree to the advancement of that science. 
The former was born at Milan, a.d. 1501; the lat- 
ter at Brescia, a few years after. Cardan is best 
known to posterity on account of the celebrated 
rule for solving equations of the third order, which 
still bears his name ; but to Tartaglia seems rather 
to have belonged the honour of the invention. A 
hateful rivalry subsisted between these two distin- 
guished mathematicians, which only terminated with 
their death, in consequence of Cardan having taken 
to himself the merit of this scientific discovery, which 
Tartaglia asserted to have been communicated to 
him in confidence, and under a promise of secrecy. 
Cardan, on the contrary, affirmed, that though the 
formula was communicated to him by Tartaglia, the 
method of demonstrating it was discovered jointly 
by himself and his pupil Ferrari, the latter of whom 
carried the process farther, by solving equations of 



332 MATHEMATICIANS. [PART IV. 

the fourth order.* However the question may be 
determined with respect to the inventor of the 
celebrated rule ascribed to Cardan, the effect was 
manifest in the rapid improvement of the science of 
analysis. Some other algebraic discoveries of Car- 
dan materially contributed to this result. He re- 
duced to a more regular system the mode of notation 
in algebraic quantities, with reference to letters, 
signs, and co-efficients ; improvements which, though 
they may appear of little importance in the present 
advanced state of the science, were, when first 
discovered, of great utility and value. Tartaglia 
made also some useful discoveries in geometry, the 
results of which will be found in his treatise on 
" Numbers and Measures ;" in which he first deve- 
loped the method of determining the area of a 
triangle, by its three sides alone, without the aid of 
a perpendicular. 

247. Several mathematicians of inferior name, 
flourished about the same period, in different parts 
of Europe, whom it will be sufficient cursorily to 
notice. These were, Commandine, who translated 
and commented on Euclid's Elements, the physical 
works of Archimedes, Aristarchus, Hero, Ptolemy, 
Pappus, and the Arabian astronomers; — Nonius 
of Lisbon, the inventor of a useful mathematical 
instrument employed in mensuration, which still 
bears his name ; — Stiphelius, a German alge- 

* Further particulars respecting this controversy between 
Cardan and Tartaglia, will be found in Montucla's and Bossut's 
History of Mathematics ; and in Playfair's Dissert, apud Encyc. 
Britt. N. Supp. pp. 13, 14. 



CHAP. Il/] MATHEMATICIANS. 333 

braist, who suggested some improvements in 
the use of negative and positive quantities ; — 
Recorde, an English analyst; and Pelitarius, 
a French mathematician, who directed their chief 
attention to algebraic equations; — and especially 
Bombelli, of Bologna, who pushed forwards the 
discoveries of Cardan, by resolving what appeared 
to that distinguished algebraist to be an irre- 
ducible case. 

248. About the middle of the sixteenth century, 
we meet with a mathematician who was justly 
esteemed the " greatest geometer of his age." This 
was Maurolycus, born at Messina, in Sicily, a.d. 
1494 ; a man profoundly skilled in all the depart- 
ments of mathematical science, but who chiefly 
excelled in that of geometry. " His treatise on 
Conic Sections" says Professor Playfair, " is highly 
esteemed. All his writings indicate a man of clear 
conception and strong understanding, though he is 
taxed with having dealt in astrological prediction." 
Maurolycus applied himself to a branch of analy- 
tical calculation at that time almost unknown. This 
was the summation of several series of numbers, 
such as those of natural numbers, of their squares, 
and of triangular numbers. On this subject he 
framed theorems remarkable for subtilty of in- 
vention and simplicity of result.* Besides his 
original works, he bestowed great labour on the 
remains of the ancient mathematicians ; particularly 
the " Conies" of Apollonius, which he endeavoured 

* Playfair's Dissert, p. 5 ; Bossut's Hist, of Mathem. p. 209. 



334 MATHEMATICIANS. [PART IV. 

to restore and illustrate by valuable critical and 
scientific commentaries. 

249. The close of the sixteenth century forms a 
splendid gera in the history of mathematical science ; 
but the greater part of the geometricians of that age 
pursued these studies, not so much for their own 
sake, as on account of their inseparable connexion 
with astronomy, or some other department of natural 
philosophy. They may, therefore, be introduced 
with more propriety into those sections which will 
include a review of the history of physics at this 
period. Copernicus, Kepler, and Galileo, could not 
have made their splendid scientific discoveries with- 
out a high degree of mathematical science ; though 
they owe their chief celebrity to their astronomical 
researches and discoveries. But one distinguished 
individual must be mentioned in this place, who was 
chiefly, if not exclusively, attached to the study 
of the abstract sciences, and to whom the science 
of algebra owes peculiar obligations. Vieta was a 
celebrated French algebraist, who flourished about 
a.d. 1580; and whom Professor Playfair has cha- 
racterized as " an illustrious man, and excellent 
mathematician, remarkable both for industry and 
invention." To him is attributed the very import- 
ant invention of " the application of letters, in alge- 
braic formula, to known as well as to unknown 
quantities." He gave also some rules for resolving 
cubic and biquadratic equations ; discovered the 
relation between the different sorts of equations and 
the coefficients of their terms ; and, above all, was 
eminently successful in the application of algebraic 



CHAP. II.^ MATHEMATICIANS. 335 

analysis to the solution of geometrical problems ; 
thus pointing out more clearly the connexion be- 
tween the two kindred sciences. To these valuable 
discoveries may be added his improvements in trigo- 
nometry, and his treatise on " Angular Sections." 
The general result of his labours in mathematical 
science was, that, by the improvements which he 
suggested, (and of which it is impossible here to 
give an adequate idea,) the language of algebra 
then first acquired a regularity which it never before 
possessed, and became capable of expressing general 
truths, attaining by this means an extension which 
has rendered it one of the most efficient instruments 
of investigation. His works were originally pub- 
lished about a.d. 1600. 

250. Before this rapid sketch of the mathematical 
history of the sixteenth century is concluded, we 
must not omit to mention two individuals, who 
were celebrated in their day, though eclipsed by 
the brightness of surrounding luminaries. Fernel, 
physician to Henry II., wrote several treatises on 
pure mathematics and on astronomy, which were 
highly scientific ; but his mathematical fame chiefly 
rests on his having been the first, among the moderns, 
who attempted the exact measurement of the earth. 
Though the means employed for this purpose were 
imperfect, the result to which he attained was very 
near to the truth. The other was Albert Girard, 
a Flemish mathematician, who, availing himself of 
the then recent discoveries of Vieta, brought them 
to bear successfully on other parts of algebraic 
science, and proved their extensive and almost 



336 MATHEMATICIANS. [PART IV. 

universal application. Playfair, after having enu- 
merated the series of scientific inventions attri- 
buted to Girard, concludes with this high encomium : 
" This is the greatest list of discoveries which the 
history of any algebraist could yet furnish." 



Section II. 



THE HISTORY OF MATHEMATICS CONTINUED, 

From a.d. 1600 to 1650. 

251. The commencement of the seventeenth 
century is rendered memorable in the history of 
the abstract sciences, by its being the asra of a noble 
and most useful discovery, that of logarithms', a 
discovery, which, by its abridgment of numerical 
calculations, has rendered the most important service 
to science in general, but especially to that of 
astronomy. The labour of effecting the necessary 
calculations to measure the distances of the heavenly 
bodies, and other complicated and lengthened in- 
vestigations, by the ordinary process of arithmetic, 
had become exceedingly burdensome to the mathe- 
maticians and astronomers of Europe. But the 
discovery of logarithms simplified the process, and 
rendered it comparatively easy. Baron Napier, of 
Marchiston, in Scotland, was the undisputed inventor 
of this improved method of calculation, which was first 
announced to the public in a work, published at Edin- 
burgh, a.d. 1614, entitled, " Logarithmorum Canonis 
Description Of this admirable system, a detailed 



CHAP. IlJ MATHEMATICIANS. 337 

account cannot be given in this elementary work : 
suffice it to state, that by the construction of tables, 
in which two series of numbers are arranged, one in 
arithmetical, and the other in geometrical progression, 
corresponding to each other, results were obtained, 
with great facility and in the most summary manner, 
by addition or subtraction alone, which had pre- 
viously required tedious and almost interminable 
processes of multiplication or division. The in- 
genious inventor did not live to complete his un- 
dertaking, though he proceeded far towards its 
accomplishment. The logarithmic tables begun by 
him, were improved, finished, and published by his 
friend and coadjutor Henry Briggs, then professor 
of mathematics in Gresham College. Further im- 
provements were subsequently suggested, in a 
more advanced period of this century, by Gelibrand, 
Gunther, and Hadrian Vlacq, (all of whom were 
either pupils or personal friends of Briggs,) and by 
Justus Byrge, a German mathematician of no 
ordinary attainments. 

252. While Napier was pursuing a new track 
in scientific philosophy, Harriott, an English 
algebraist and astronomer, was no less diligently 
employed in advancing his favourite sciences. Fol- 
lowing up the suggestions of Vieta and Girard, 
he arrived at important results which they had not 
anticipated, and discovered truths to which they 
had only approximated. The particulars of his re- 
searches and improvements in mathematical science 
are contained in his work entitled " Artis Analy- 
lieae Praxis," published after his death. To him is 

Z 



338 MATHEMATICIANS. £PART IV. 

attributed that important improvement in alge- 
bra, which consists " in transposing the terms and 
changing the signs of equations, so as to arrange 
them on one side;" a method which has greatly 
tended to simplify algebraic solutions. Another 
valuable improvement suggested by Harriott, con- 
sisted in the discovery of a method of ascertaining the 
nature of equations in general by successive multi- 
plications of those of the first order. 

253. The celebrated Des Cartes occurs next in 
order among the mathematicians of this age. We 
shall have occasion repeatedly to refer to this dis- 
tinguished philosopher, in connexion with almost 
every department of physical and moral science; 
for, after every abatement is made on account of his 
love of speculation, and his tendency to theorize, 
rather than calmy to investigate truth, it must be 
confessed, that few, either in ancient or modern 
times, have approached so near to the character of 
an universal genius. At present we have only to do 
with his mathematical discoveries, which, it will be 
evident from the following summary, were by no 
means inconsiderable. In algebra, an improvement 
was made by Des Cartes, which, in the opinion 
of Playfair, forms a most important epoch in the 
history of mathematical science ; namely, " the appli- 
cation of the algebraic analysis to define the nature 
and investigate the properties of curve lines, and 
consequently to represent the notion of variable 
quantity." To this may be added his more correct 
notation of algebraic quantities by means of ex- 
ponents, and a more complete development than 



CHAP. II.] MATHEMATICIANS. 339 

had occurred to Vieta of the relation between geo- 
metry and algebra. In geometry, this eminent 
mathematician rendered most valuable service by 
discovering the means of determining the relations 
and proportions of different species of curve lines ; 
by drawing tangents and perpendiculars to geo- 
metrical curves, and by describing accurately their 
course of inflexion in any given case. By these 
abstruse investigations, he prepared the way for 
future mathematicians, and took an important 
step towards the discovery of the " Analysis of Infi- 
nites," which constitutes the chief glory of modern 
times. 

254. Cavalleri, who flourished at the same time 
with Des Cartes, was equal, if not superior, to his 
illustrious contemporary in mathematical science. 
He was born at Milan, a. d. 1598, and published his 
celebrated work on the " Geometry of Indivisibles," 
in 1635. This great mathematician was a disciple 
of Galileo, and had associated with Kepler; from 
both of whom, it is probable, he derived much 
valuable assistance in the preparation of this highly 
scientific work. It is divided into seven books, in six 
of which his new theory is applied to the quadrature 
of curves, and the cubation of solids ; and in the last, 
the same theorems are demonstrated without the 
aid of his method of indivisibles. To comprehend 
more clearly the value and importance of this dis- 
covery, it will be requisite to call to mind what 
was stated in a former section of this work, respect- 
ing the (C method of exhaustions," as far as it 
was known to the ancient geometricians ; (§ 76 ;) 

z 2 



340 MATHEMATICIANS. [TART IV. 

the object of which was " to determine the 
lengths and areas of curves, and the contents of 
solids contained in them." That method was ex- 
tremely limited in its application, and the demon- 
strations to which it led could only be attained by 
tedious and complicated operations. It remained for 
Cavalleri to devise a more compendious method of 
effectuating these objects by a principle of universal 
application. Instead of the circuitous route, by 
which Archimedes and other ancient mathematicians 
were led to the accurate measurement of superficial 
and solid bodies contained in curves, Cavalleri pro- 
ceeded by a method of analysis of his own invention, 
most directly to the attainment of his object. To 
this he most properly gave the name of the " method 
of indivisibles" In consequence of this happy and 
most important discovery, many propositions were de- 
monstrated with the utmost facility, which had baffled 
all preceding geometricians, and not a few new theo- 
rems were invented of singular beauty and elegance. 
255. About the same time, a comparatively novel 
object of research engaged the attention of mathe- 
maticians, especially those of the French school. 
This related to the nature, properties and propor- 
tions of that particular species of curves, deno- 
minated cycloids. This kind of curve was alluded 
to in the review of ancient mathematics ; but little 
advance seems to have been made towards the 
development of this curious division of the science, 
till the commencement of the seventeenth century ; 
and even then, it is difficult to determine by whom 
the solution was first made. Galileo had in vain 



CHAP. II.]] MATHEMATICIANS. 341 

employed his vigorous and penetrating mind in this 
investigation, Cavalleri, aided as he was by his 
" Method of Indivisibles/' which furnished him with 
the true key to its solution, yet failed to discover it. 
The honour of the invention belongs either to Tori- 
celli, one of the pupils of Galileo, or to Roberval, 
a French mathematician of high repute. Without 
presuming to determine a question so fiercely con- 
tested by the partisans of each, it may be affirmed, 
that, by whomsoever discovered, the invention of the 
" quadration of the cycloid " forms an interesting 
sera in the history of mathematics. 

256. One of the geometricians of the French 
school has been mentioned incidentally. But it 
would be an act of injustice to that age and country 
not to allude more distinctly, both to the mathema- 
tical investigations of that individual, and of those 
several other of his illustrious contemporaries and 
countrymen, particularly Fermat and Pascal, all 
of whom may justly be classed with mathematicians 
of the first order. 

Fermat was born at Toulouse, a.d. 1590, and 
originally intended to practise in the law, but his 
genius directing him to the study of the mathe- 
matics, he soon relinquished the legal profession, and 
gave himself up to scientific pursuits. He excelled 
both as a geometrician and an algebraist. In the 
former, he may be considered as on the very verge 
of having discovered the method of fluxions ; since 
his investigation of infinitely small quantities, for 
the purpose of determining the maxima and minima 
of geometrical figures, led him to the confines of that 



342 MATHEMATICIANS. [jPART IV. 

important invention, which characterises and en- 
nobles the geometry of modern times. In algebra, 
Fermat was led to many useful improvements, by his 
diligent analysis of prime and figurate numbers, and 
by his intimate acquaintance with the works of Dio- 
phantus and the Arabian mathematicians. His ori- 
ginal treatises and commentaries on the ancients were 
collected after his death, in two volumes folio, and are 
lasting memorials of his science and industry. 

257. Roberval was the great rival in mathe- 
matical science both of Cavalleri and Descartes, 
of whose well-earned celebrity he was extremely 
jealous, and with both of whom he maintained many 
angry controversies. His attention, like that of 
almost all the geometricians of that period, was 
directed chiefly to the means of ascertaining 
the area of curves of different kinds ; particularly 
the quadrature of parabolas and the nature of 
cycloids. In this abstruse and difficult depart- 
ment of pure mathematics, he proceeded a few 
steps beyond Cavalleri, since he arrived at the same 
results by a yet easier process than the method of 
indivisibles. His asperity and vanity are, however, 
great blemishes in his literary character, for which 
even his high scientific attainments can scarcely be 
deemed an adequate compensation. 

258. The profound and excellent Pascal, whose 
intellectual powers, and, above all, whose ardent 
piety shed a lustre on his science and learning, 
proved, by his inventions in mathematics, that his 
mighty genius was capable of grasping almost any 
subject, however abstract and difficult, to which 



CHAP. II.3 MATHEMATICIANS. 343 

it could be directed. He opened a new path in 
analysis, by his well-known arithmetical triangle, 
and in geometry pursued, with brilliant success, the 
investigation of the cycloid. " Geometricians," says 
M. Bossut, "regret that he did not dedicate the 
whole course of his short life to the mathematics; 
but then we should have lost those celebrated Pro- 
vincial Letters, and those profound Thoughts, which 
are perhaps the master-pieces of French eloquence." 
— Hist, of Math. p. 239. 



Section III. 

HISTORY OF MATHEMATICS CONTINUED. 

From A. D. 1650 to 1700. 

259. Hitherto we have seen, that scientific men 
were comparatively insulated, except as far as they 
were mutually attracted by community of taste and 
pursuits. In some instances their jealousies kept 
them from freely imparting the discoveries they had 
made in art or science to each other. But about 
the middle of the seventeenth century a better sys- 
tem was adopted. A kind of literary republic was 
formed throughout Europe, by means of " Philoso- 
phical Societies," and u Academies of Science," which 
were then established in several of its principal 
cities. To those scientific institutions, all who pos- 
sessed the requisite qualifications were freely ad- 
mitted, to whatever country they might belong. 
Among many other valuable effects produced by 



344 MATHEMATICIANS. [PART IV. 

these literary establishments, it soon became appa- 
rent, that they stimulated genius, caused knowledge 
of every kind to circulate more freely, and afforded 
facilities to the improvement of the arts and sciences, 
which private individuals could not possess. It is 
not possible to estimate in how great a degree the 
vigorous growth of mathematical and physical sci- 
ence, which marked the close of the seventeenth 
century, is attributable to these important associa- 
tions. 

The first, in the order of time, was the " Acade- 
mia del Cimento? founded at Florence, a. d. 1651. 
The next was the " Royal Society,' 9 of London ; 
which, though it had existed as a private literary 
association at Oxford, during the Commonwealth, 
was not incorporated by royal charter till a. d. 1662. 
The " Academy of Sciences? at Paris, quickly fol- 
lowed, having been founded a. d. 1666. To these 
succeeded similar institutions at Berlin, Leipsic, 
Bologna, St. Petersburgh, and other European 
cities. 

260. Most of the scientific philosophers to whom 
we shall have occasion to advert, who flourished 
after this period, were members of one or more of 
these philosophical institutions. At present, those 
alone will be selected who contributed to the ad- 
vancement of mathematical science during the latter 
half of the seventeenth century. 

(1.) Wallis was one of the earliest and most 
distinguished members of the Royal Society of Lon- 
don. Like the rest of the mathematicians of that 
age, he directed his attention chiefly to the doctrine 



CHAP. II.^ MATHEMATICIANS. 345 

of Infinites, which he investigated both by algebraic 
and geometrical processes. The result of his long- 
continued and unwearied researches in this branch 
of the mathematics, appeared in his celebrated work, 
entitled " The Arithmetic of Infinites ;" a work in 
itself of great importance, but rendered still more 
valuable by its having proved the occasion of the 
most important discovery of modern times. 

(2.) Huygens chiefly belongs to the class of prac- 
tical and experimental philosophers ; but as a suc- 
cessful fellow-labourer in the mathematical depart- 
ment with Fermat, Wallis, Pascal, and others of his 
illustrious contemporaries, he must also be included 
in the list of geometricians of the first order. " One 
of the greatest discoveries made in modern geome- 
try," writes M. Bossut, " was the theory of evolutes, 
invented by Huygens, and developed by him in his 
work entitled, ' Horologium Oscillatorium.' The 
chief object of this invention was to aid in the rec- 
tification of curves, and especially cycloids ; that is, to 
determine their exact quantity in right lines. The 
uses," it is added, " of this theory, in all parts of 
the mathematics, are without number*." The same 
object was pursued by means of infinite series, and 
similar results were obtained, by two eminent En- 
glish mathematicians, who flourished at that period, 
namely, Brouncker and Mercator; each of whom, 
separately and simultaneously, made the same dis- 
covery respecting the areas of hyperbolas and other 
curves ; and who may be considered as proceeding, 

* Bossut, p. 240. 



346 MATHEMATICIANS* [PART IV. 

by almost imperceptible, but certain steps, towards 
the more important invention of the new analysis. 

(3.) Barrow, who is proved by his works to have 
been at once a profound theologian, an acute rea- 
soner, and a distinguished mathematician, is chiefly 
celebrated in this latter department of science, by 
his invention of the differential triangle ; which may 
be considered as another important step taken to- 
wards the discovery of fluxions. Its chief utility 
consisted in enabling the geometrician to draw tan- 
gents to curves by a shorter and simpler process 
than that previously discovered by Fermat ; but it 
fell far short of the " Method of Fluxions," inasmuch 
as it would apply only to a single case instead of 
giving a formula of general, or rather universal 
application. 

(4.) James Gregory was another coadjutor in 
that great work, which employed, at this period, 
the investigation of the profoundest mathematicians 
of Europe. He discovered, by a new process, a me- 
thod of infinite series, applicable to tangents and 
secants, which materially assisted in determining 
the quadrature and rectification of curves. 

261. Having cursorily noticed the principal 
English mathematicians, who flourished at the close 
of the seventeenth century, (with the exception of 
our illustrious Newton, whose mathematical disco- 
veries were so splendid that they may justly claim 
to be separately and distinctly reviewed) ; it remains 
to enumerate some of the continental geometricians, 
of distinguished reputation, who added to the lustre 
of this splendid aera. 



CHAP. II.3 MATHEMATICIANS. 347 

(1.) The Marquis D'Hopital acquired and 
merited the reputation of a first-rate mathematician, 
at a period in which it was no easy task to secure so 
honourable a distinction. His mathematical genius 
discovered itself in early youth ; for it is stated, that, 
at fifteen years of age, he solved some of the most 
difficult problems. He was the first of the French 
school, who published on the analysis of Infinites, 
then newly discovered by Leibnitz and Newton. 
His work on this subject, " completely unveiling a 
science, which had hitherto been but indistinctly 
and imperfectly developed, excited universal admira- 
tion, which was so much the greater on account of 
the elevated rank of its author, and which still re- 
tains its place among the standard treatises on the 
differential calculus." This great mathematician was 
employed in preparing a series of tracts on the conic 
sections, equations, infinite series, and other subjects 
connected with pure mathematics, when he was 
arrested by the hand of death, on the second of 
February, 1704, in the forty-third year of his age. 

(2.) James and John Bernoulli, — two brethren 
by birth, but rivals in literary fame, and, it is 
painful to add, in the later period of their lives, 
open enemies to each other,— pursued, with unwearied 
assiduity, the same series of investigations, though 
not with equal success. " The progress they made," 
says M. Bossut, " conjointly or separately in the new 
analysis, was rapid. A noble emulation, strengthened 
by the ties of blood, of friendship, and of gratitude, 
directed their studies for two or three years. Covet- 
ous of nothing but knowledge, they were stimulated 



348 MATHEMATICIANS. JJPART IV. 

only by the sublime emulation of penetrating into 
the labyrinths of science now laid open to their 
curiosity, and that unhappy rivalship, which borders 
on envy, did not yet disturb their enjoyments." The 
concluding portion of their literary career exhibits 
but too melancholy a reverse of this enchanting 
scene. An immense number of valuable tracts pro- 
ceeded, year by year, from the pen of these scientific 
brethren, both in separate publications and in the 
philosophical journals of the age, which it would be 
tedious and useless to enumerate. The more im- 
portant of them related to the catenary curve, or 
that formed by a heavy flexible and inextensible 
cord, fastened at its extremities to two fixed points, 
(a subject intimately connected with the science of 
mechanics, though in itself mathematical,) — to the 
nature and properties of cycloids — to elastic, isochro- 
nous, and paracentric curves — and especially to the 
geometry of infinites. Towards the close of his life, 
James Bernoulli received the well-merited honour of 
an appointment to the professorship of mathematics 
in the University of Basil, the place of his birth, and 
thus obtained additional facilities for prosecuting his 
studies in mathematical and physical science. 

262. The celebrated Leibnitz is last mentioned, 
not as latest in the order of time, or inferior in 
scientific attainments, for on both these grounds he 
may justly take the precedence ; but because the prin- 
cipal facts of his .literary history (especially in con- 
nexion with the abstract sciences) are so interwoven 
with those of the illustrious Newton, that it seemed 
most desirable to place them in juxta-position. 



CHAP. II.]] MATHEMATICIANS. 349 

This eminent philosopher was born at Leipsic on 
the 4th of July, 1646. His father having been pro- 
fessor of moral philosophy in the university of that 
city, he grew up in the atmosphere of learning, and 
early imbibed a taste for almost every species of lite- 
rature. Among other branches of science to which 
his youth was devoted, the mathematics were not 
forgotten; in which he made so great proficiency, 
as to maintain a public thesis in the year 1663, on a 
question of considerable difficulty. — His advancement 
to academical honours was retarded by his rejection 
of the principles of Aristotle and the Scholastics, who 
still retained great influence in the principal univer- 
sities of Europe ; but at length the genius and talents 
of Leibnitz bore down all opposition, and procured 
for him the highest literary distinctions. Some of 
his earlier publications related to questions of juris- 
prudence and subjects connected with intellectual 
philosophy, which will be adverted to hereafter. But 
the investigations of Pascal, Gregory, Huygens, and 
Wallis, fired his ambition, and prompted him to 
apply the energies of his powerful mind to those 
intricate and abstruse subjects, in which they had 
been so successful. In 1684, he published, in the 
Leipsic Philosophical Transactions, ie A new Method 
for Maxima and Minima," &c. In 1685, two tracts 
were published by him on the quadrature of curves ; 
and in almost every succeeding year, numerous 
proofs were afforded of his high mathematical attain- 
ments, either by valuable communications to literary 
journals, or by separate treatises on the most pro- 
found subjects of analysis. But the most remarkable 



350 MATHEMATICIANS. ^PART IV. 

fact connected with the literary history of Leibnitz, 
relates to the celebrated controversy respecting the 
originality of his invention of the differential calculus, 
which will form the principal subject of the next sec- 
tion. That a discovery which opened so new and wide 
a field to modern science, and so greatly enlarged the 
boundaries of human knowledge, would reflect im- 
mortal honour on its inventor, it was not difficult to 
foresee ; and in proportion as this conviction was 
felt, the partizans on either side felt determined to 
secure the laurel for the brow of their favourite 
philosopher. Time has allayed the passions, and 
subdued the prejudices which this controversy once 
excited, and furnished the requisite means of forming 
a more impartial and correct judgment. 



Section IV. 
on the mathematical discoveries of sir ISAAC 

NEWTON. 

263. It will not be expected, from the title 
prefixed to this section, that the writer of these 
pages proposes to give a detailed account of the 
prodigious labours and brilliant discoveries of the 
most renowned of modern geometricians. This 
would require more space than the assigned limits 
of the present work would admit, and a much higher 
degree of science than that to which its author can 
pretend. Yet, as the age of Newton forms a new 
and most important aera in the history of mathema- 



CHAP. Il/] MATHEMATICIANS. 351 

tical science, it is requisite that an attempt be made 
in this place to convey some faint conception of the 
new geometry, of which he is justly considered the 
inventor, and by the aid of which, science has sub- 
sequently made such rapid progress. This may be 
done as a matter of history, without attempting to 
explain the process by which these valuable results 
were obtained. 

264. In order to understand the true nature of 
those geometrical discoveries to which we are now 
alluding, it is necessary to recall to recollection 
what was stated respecting the discoveries of the 
most celebrated mathematicians of Greece. When 
reviewing the history of the abstract sciences in 
the time of Euclid and Archimedes, it was stated 
that those celebrated geometricians, by the aid of 
the " Method of Exhaustions? and their investigation 
of quantities infinitely small, prepared the way for 
that department of mathematical science, to which 
the moderns have given the names of " Differential 
Calculus? " Infinitesimal Analysis? or "Fluxions." 
(§ 76.) After the lapse of more than two thousand 
years, the "Method of Exhaustions" gave place to that 
of " Indivisibles? invented by C availed ; by means of 
which, the same objects were attained with greater 
ease and accuracy analytically, which the ancient 
geometers had discovered by synthetical reasonings. 
(§254.) Folio wing this track, the great mathematicians 
of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, who have 
been enumerated, particularly Toricelli, Roberval, 
Fermat, Pascal, Huygens, Wallis, and Barrow, 
investigated more closely the doctrine of Infinites, 



352 MATHEMATICIANS. [jPART IV. 

and discovered some important theorems concerning 
variable or indeterminate quantities, which ap- 
proximated so near to each other, that no assigned 
difference could be shewn. Yet there was still 
wanting some more exact calculus adapted to 
these researches, which had continued during so 
many ages to baffle the skill of the most scientific 
philosophers. Such was the state of the abstract 
sciences, when Newton and Leibnitz arose, both of 
whom applied all the force of their mighty genius 
to the subject. While an undergraduate at Cam- 
bridge, Newton met with " Wallis's Arithmetic of 
Infinites ;" and " no book," says Playfair, " could be 
better fitted to suggest new views of geometry, 
or call into activity the powers of mathematical 
invention." The young philosopher quickly dis- 
covered where Wallis had failed, and adopting the 
general principle laid down in his work, discovered 
a law, by which the long agitated problem of the 
quadrature of the circle, and every other species of 
curve, might be solved. This led to the invention 
of his celebrated " binomial theorem," (by steps 
perfectly easy to such a mind as Newton's, which 
could only breathe in the atmosphere of science,) 
and eventually to the method of " Fluxions" 

265. The value of this discovery, and the new 
field it opened to science, rendered the question 
relative to the history of its invention interesting to 
all Europe, and gave occasion to a controversy in 
which many of the men of science of that age took 
an active part. The question was simply this, 
whether the honour of this brilliant discovery belonged 



CHAP. Il/] MATHEMATICIANS. 353 

to Leibnitz or Newton. The facts of the case, as 
abridged from the more full and impartial narrative 
of Professor Playfair, are the following : " Newton 
made the important discovery alluded to in early 
life, but did not publish that discovery till nearly 
thirty years afterwards. That the method effluxions 
was known to him as early as a. d. 1665, or 1666, 
is evident from a letter written by him, about that 
time, to Oldenberg, one of the secretaries to the 
Royal Society, in which some results are stated, 
which could no otherwise have been found, though 
he does not there explain the process by which they 
were attained. A yet more decisive testimony is 
borne on the subject by Dr. Barrow, who affirms 
that, soon after the above date, Newton, then a 
young man, placed in his hands a MS. entitled 
" Analysis per Equationes Infinitas," &c, which he 
earnestly exhorted his young friend to publish ; but 
which, through an ill-judged modesty, he declined 
to do : so that, though written as early as 1669, it 
was not published till 1711. The first work in 
which any intimation of the method of fluxions was 
publicly given, and then only as by accident, with- 
out a clear development of the process, was his 
" Principia," published a.d. 1687. The principle 
of the fluxinary calculus is there announced, but the 
method itself is not explained. This did not appear 
till a.d. 1693, when it was appended to the second 
volume of a new edition of Wallis' Mathematical 
Works. This is, therefore, the true date of the pub- 
lication of this new theory by Newton. 

A A 



354 MATHEMATICIANS. [PART IV. 

266. In the mean time, Leibnitz had developed 
in some of his writings, published before this latter 
period, his system of the differential calculus ; the 
principles and objects of which are precisely the 
same, and the results similar to those of fluxions, 
though the method of notation differs. The earliest 
intimation given by Leibnitz of this discovery is 
found in a letter addressed by him to the same 
Oldenberg, bearing the date of a. d. 1676, which 
is more than ten years later than the invention of 
his illustrious contemporary. The conclusion, to 
which Playfair is led by the preceding facts, differs 
somewhat from the view still taken of the contro- 
versy by many of the continental philosophers, but 
seems perfectly equitable and just ; namely, that of 
the infinitesimal analysis, Newton was the first, 
and Leibnitz the second inventor. For nothing ap- 
pears to have been communicated by Newton, either 
to his personal friends or to the world, which could 
have suggested to Leibnitz a knowledge of the 
principle on which that analysis was founded, be- 
fore the public announcement by Leibnitz of the 
differential calculus : and still less was the geo- 
metrical process developed by which it had been 
obtained. Leibnitz must have known, from the 
active correspondence then maintained by men of 
science, that some such discovery had been made, 
and this knowledge probably excited his curiosity, 
inflamed his ambition, and stimulated his exertions ; 
causes which, in addition to the progress previously 
made by Wallis and others, will sufficiently account 



CHAP. IlJ MATHEMATICIANS. 355 

for his having been led to a new and independent, 
though similar, and almost simultaneous discovery.* 
267. The new flood of light thus poured on a 
science, which leads to truth and certainty by means 
of absolute and infallible demonstrations, was hailed 
as an event of no ordinary importance. Though 
some, whose imperfect knowledge prevented them 
from duly appreciating its value, or whose dread of 
innovation armed their prejudices against it, or 
whose jealous disposition could not brook a new 
and formidable rival, started objections, and affected 
lightly to esteem this great invention; the princi- 
pal mathematicians of the age (the venerable Huy- 
gens, then in extreme old age, not excepted) most 
readily and gladly adopted it as the basis of their 
future researches. Its principal value consisted in 
its adaption to physical investigations, and, above 
all, the immense benefit derived from it, in carrying- 
on those astronomical calculations, in which the 
utmost precision is necessary. The " analysis of 
infinites" enabled Newton to meet and eventually to 
remove the principal difficulties, with which former 
philosophers had long contended unsuccessfully. A 
great variety of mathematical tracts were written 
and published by Newton at different periods of his 
life : indeed, almost the whole of the imperishable 
productions of his pen partake more or less of this 
character. Not a few will be found in a scattered 
form among the annual publications of the " Royal 
Society/' which were greatly enriched by his com- 

* Vide Playfair's Second Dissert, apud Encyc. Britt. N. Supp. 

A A2 



356 MATHEMATICIANS. [PART IV. 

munications. Some were published separately, of 
which the most important were his " Letters in the 
Commercium Epistolicum," # published a.d. 1711 ; 
his " Treatise on the Quadrature of the Curve," 
written in 1666, but not published till 1704; and 
his book on " The Method of Fluxions and Analysis 
by Infinite Series," published after his death, in 
1736. 

* The " Commercium Epistolicum" was the official Report 
of the Royal Society relative to the disputed claims of Newton 
and Leibnitz ; and contained all the communications which had 
passed between these two great philosophers and their respective 
friends on the subject of the new analysis, from the beginning of 
the controversy to the time of its publication. It set the question 
at rest in England : but a disposition manifested itself among the 
foreign mathematicians to rob Sir Isaac Newton of his well- 
earned honours long after this period. 



CHAP. III.] ASTRONOMY. 357 

CHAPTER III. 

HISTORY OF PHYSICAL SCIENCE CONTINUED. 



I. ASTRONOMY. 



Sect. I. — On the principal astronomers of the 

SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 

268. The period which is now to pass in review, 
forms a most splendid aera in the history of astro- 
nomical science. The progress made in this important 
branch of philosophy was so rapid and great — the 
new discoveries were so various and astonishing — 
that, compared with them, all the attainments of 
preceding ages, from the earliest records of authentic 
history, vanish into utter insignificance. It will 
only be possible to glance at some of these dis- 
coveries in the order in which they were announced 
to the world, and to enumerate a few of the dis- 
tinguished individuals to whose inventive genius 
they are attributed. 

269. Copernicus must be first mentioned, as 
confessedly the great founder of Modern Astronomy. 
He was born at Thorn, in Prussia, a. d. 1472, but 
did not commence that astronomical career, which 
has given celebrity to his name, till the beginning of 
the following century. Originally intended for a 
physician, he applied himself, in early youth, to the 



358 ASTRONOMY. [PART IV. 

study of medicine, but afterwards took orders in 
the Church of Rome, that he might pursue, with 
greater advantage, his philosophical researches. His 
literary ardour first manifested itself in the depart- 
ment of mathematics, by which he was naturally 
led to astronomy, as a science which opens the 
widest field to geometrical investigation. He soon 
perceived the deficiency and fallacy of all the theories 
of the ancients respecting the planetary system, 
except that which Pythagoras is said to have darkly 
conjectured many ages before, though he was unable 
to demonstrate its truth. (§ 87.) 

It appears, from the statement of Copernicus 
himself, that he first began to entertain doubts of 
the truth of the Ptolemaic system, about a. d. 1507 ; 
and that these doubts were occasioned by the diffi- 
culty he found in reconciling that system with the 
simplicity and uniformity of the laws of nature. It 
soon appeared, that by transferring the sun to the 
centre of the planetary system, instead of the earth ; 
by giving to the earth a twofold motion, one on its 
own axis, and another in a prescribed path or orbit 
round the sun ; and by applying the same theory 
to the rest of the planets, many of his difficulties 
vanished, and the celestial phenomena, the solution 
of which before seemed impracticable, were explained 
with a facility at which he was perfectly astonished. 
The simple fact that led the mind of Copernicus to 
this discovery, was one of those familiar and every- 
day scenes, which must have been observed a 
thousand times both by the peasant and the phi- 
losopher; namely, the optical illusion which takes 



CHAP, in.^ ASTRONOMY. 359 

place when a spectator imagines the objects on the 
banks of a river to be moving in an opposite 
direction to that in which he is himself proceeding. 
The conjecture was natural, that the same illusion 
may happen with respect to the sun's apparent 
motion, and those of the heavenly bodies. In his 
reasonings on the subject, there are some sound and 
solid arguments indicative of true science; but 
others were errors into which he was betrayed by 
his remaining attachment to ancient systems. Well 
knowing the dread of innovations, whether in 
philosophy or religion, which had ever characterized 
the Church to which he belonged, he did not venture 
to announce publicly either his rejection of the 
ancient, or his discovery of a new theory, till nearly 
the close of life. It is more than probable, that if 
he had earlier developed a scheme so completely at 
variance with the orthodox faith, he would have 
fallen a sacrifice to the ignorance and bigotry of the 
times, and, like one of his successors, languished 
away the remnant of his existence in the prisons of 
the Inquisition. He was, however, induced in 
advanced life, by the persuasions of Cardinal 
Schoenberg, to publish a work, written with great 
caution, and containing many apologies for the 
novelty of some of its statements, in which the 
true doctrine of the solar system was developed. 
This book, which originally was entitled " De 
Revolutionibus Ccelestibus," but afterwards more 
appropriately styled " Astronomia Instaurata" was 
published a. d. 1543, and dedicated to the Roman 
Pontiff; nor is it a little remarkable, that this 



360 ASTRONOMY. [PART IV. 

great astronomer died on the very day in which the 
first complete printed copy of this work was put 
into his hands. 

270. The new theory of Copernicus attracted 
little attention, when first promulgated. "It lay 
fermenting in secret/' says Playfair, " with other 
new discoveries, for more than fifty years, till by 
the exertions of Galileo, it was kindled into so 
bright a flame, as to consume the philosophy of 
Aristotle, to alarm the hierarchy of Rome, and to 
threaten the existence of every opinion not founded 
on experience and observation." During this in- 
terval, which may be regarded as a kind of intel- 
lectual twilight, Tycho Brahe, the celebrated 
Danish astronomer, arose and flourished ; a man of 
genius, of science, of unwearied industry; but who, 
unhappily, suffered himself to be so fettered by early 
prejudices, or so intimidated by the fear of man, as 
not to dare to follow up his own convictions, or pur- 
sue the course of his own discoveries. He was the 
inventor of a system, which bears his name, and 
which takes a middle course between the Ptolemaic 
and the Copernican; for while it agrees with the 
former, in supposing the earth to be the immoveable 
centre of the whole planetary sphere ; it represented 
first the moon as revolving round it; and. next the 
sun, carrying with him in his revolution, the five 
primary planets as his satellites. Had this theory 
been developed before the publication of the " As- 
tronomia Instaurata" of Copernicus, it might have 
been hailed as one, and that not an unimportant 
step in advance ; but appearing when it did, it must 



CHAP. III.] ASTRONOMYo 361 

rather be accounted a retrograde movement. There 
is, however, reason to believe, that Tycho Brahe was 
far from being satisfied with this theory, though 
he attempted to reconcile with it the actual phe- 
nomena of the celestial motions. Nor can we 
wonder that, rapidly progressive as mathematical 
science then was, this system should have obtained 
few converts and been soon forgotten, except as a 
matter of history. 

271. The services rendered by Tycho Brahe to 
the sublime science of astronomy, were however 
great and highly important, for (1.) he prevailed 
upon the King of Denmark to establish an ob- 
servatory at Uraniberg, and to furnish it with the 
most accurate instruments that could be procured 
from any part of Europe. Aided by these advan- 
tages, he not only made an immense number of 
astronomical observations himself, but collected 
around him a band of scientific men ardently de- 
voted to the same pursuits, and founded a school of 
astronomy, from which not a few eminent astro- 
nomers proceeded to illumine the world. 

(2.) Many years had now elapsed, since the attempt 
of Hipparchus and Ptolemy to number the stars, and 
far superior instruments for the purpose were now 
constructed (§. 86. 89.) The Danish astronomer de- 
termined, therefore, to renew the attempt, and, after 
a long series of minute observations and accurate 
measurements, produced a catalogue of the fixed 
stars, amounting to 777, whose situation in the 
heavens was determined with as much precision as 
the state of science would then permit, though far 



362 ASTRONOMY. [>ART IV. 

less accurately than in some of the catalogues sub- 
sequently made. The greater correctness of Tycho 
Brahe arose not merely from the superiority of his 
instruments, but from his employing the planet 
Venus, instead of the moon, as the basis and rule of 
his calculation for determining the longitude of the 
fixed stars. 

(3.) Another object, to which the astronomical 
researches of Tycho Brahe was directed, and in 
which he was materially aided by his mathematical 
science, related to the irregularities which had been 
long observed in the lunar motions, the true cause 
of which was as yet unknown. This astronomer 
laboured most assiduously to ascertain the degree of 
these irregularities, the periods when they occurred, 
and their influence in causing a difference between 
lunar and solar time, in all which researches he was 
eminently successful. 

(4.) A series of useful calculations were made by 
him on the subject of atmospherical refraction, the 
object of which was to determine, by an equatorial 
instrument of his own invention, the angle at which 
that refraction becomes visible, and the degree of 
refrangibility at different altitudes. 

(5.) No inconsiderable degree of light was thrown 
by this indefatigable astronomer on the theory of 
comets ; one of which, (that of 1570,) he observed 
most carefully and minutely as long as it remained 
visible in our hemisphere ; and, from these observa- 
tions, he inferred that, like the planets, they are solid 
opaque bodies, revolving round the sun, though in 
extremely eccentric orbits. The above are among the 



CHAP. III.] ASTRONOMY. 363 

most important astronomical investigations of this 
practical philosopher, to which many others of sub- 
ordinate interest, but yet which indicate unwearied 
diligence of research, might have been added. 

272. William IV. the Landgrave of Hesse Cassel, 
and Pope Gregory XIII. contributed essentially 
to the advancement of astronomical science, to- 
wards the close of the sixteenth century : the for- 
mer by his personal observations as a practical 
astronomer ; the latter by his efforts to procure a 
reformation of the calendar. In surveying the 
records of past ages, it is grateful to fix the eye for 
a moment on a prince, who, instead of being carried 
away by the lust of ambition, and spreading abroad 
the miseries and calamities of war, devoted his 
leisure hours to philosophical pursuits. Such was 
the venerable Landgrave of Hesse Cassel, who built 
an observatory in the capital of his principality ; 
made numerous observations on the position of the 
fixed stars and constellations ; and called in the aid 
of science to determine the solstitial altitudes, with 
many other astronomical phenomena. 

The pontificate of Gregory was rendered illus- 
trious by the adoption of that new arrangement 
of the calendar, which still bears his name. The 
errors of the former arrangement had been long felt ; 
and repeated, though ineffectual, attempts made to 
correct them. But Gregory took the most effectual 
method to accomplish this object, by inviting all 
the astronomers of Europe to give their utmost 
attention to the investigation, and offering a reward 
to such as should suggest the best scheme for the 



364 ASTRONOMY. [PART IV. 

more accurate measurement of time. Numerous 
plans were suggested, but among them all, that 
of Aloysius Lillius, an astronomer of Verona, ob- 
tained the preference, and was accordingly adopted. 
In the year 1582, this reformation was carried into 
effect, and gradually superseded the use of the 
Julian calendar. 

273. We pass on to notice an astronomer who 
was the glory of his age and country, and whose 
name can never be forgotten so long as any records 
remain of physical science. This was Kepler, who 
has been designated " the creator of true physical 
astronomy." He was born at Wirtemberg, a. d. 
1571, and in early life distinguished himself both 
by his physical researches and invaluable writings. 
He is chiefly celebrated as the philosopher, who first 
discovered the laws of the planetary motions ; the 
theory of which was partly known to Copernicus 
and Tycho Brahe, but the development and de- 
monstration of which is altogether his own. The 
steps by which Kepler was led to this important 
discovery, the train of reasoning pursued in demon- 
strating the truth of these general laws, and the 
methods of calculation adopted for this purpose, 
cannot be detailed here. They will be found at 
length in his celebrated work, entitled " Astronomia 
Nova" published a. d. 1609 ; and in a more abridged 
form in most of the modern treatises on astronomy. 
Suffice it to say, that they resulted in what are tech- 
nically termed the first anal second laws of Kepler ; 
the former of which relates to the proportion be- 
tween the areas and times of planetary revolutions, 



CHAP. Ill/] ASTRONOMY. 365 

and the latter determines their mean distances. The 
general law, in which both the preceding were com- 
bined, is thus perspicuously stated by the late Pro- 
fessor Playfair ; " that in any two planets, the 
squares of the times of the revolutions are as the 
cubes of their mean distances from the sun." " This 
beautiful and simple law," adds the same excellent 
writer, " had a value beyond what Kepler could 
possibly conceive. Yet a sort of scientific instinct 
instructed him in its great importance ; for he has 
marked the day and year, when it became known to 
him ; it was on the 8th of May, 1618 ; and perhaps 
philosophers will agree that there are few days in 
the scientific history of the world which deserve 
so well to be remembered."* 

274. But important as were these discoveries, 
they were not the only contributions of this great 
philosopher to his favourite science. Having de- 
monstrated by physical experiments the inertia of 
matter, he applied it as a general principle, by 
which to explain the phenomena of the planetary 
revolutions. Kepler was the first who employed 
the above term, to denote the tendency of bodies 
when in motion, or at rest, to continue in the same 
state ; and who proved that all motion is naturally 
rectilineal ; whence he inferred, that if a body 
moved in a curve, (as is the case with all the plane- 
tary bodies,) it must be drawn out of its natural 
track by some external cause. The important use 
made of this discovery by the illustrious Newton will 

* Playfair's Second Diss. pp. 87, 88. 



366 ASTRONOMY. JJPART IV. 

hereafter appear. The objects to which the re- 
searches of this indefatigable astronomer were 
directed, during a life wholly devoted to practical 
science, were so varied and almost innumerable, that 
many must, of necessity, be passed over in this rapid 
sketch. The more important related to the calcula- 
tion of eclipses ; the measurement of parallaxes, both 
diurnal and annual ; the determination of the planes 
of the planetary orbits, and consequently of their 
nodes ; their greater or less degree of eccentricity, 
and their angular motions or irregularities of move- 
ment at different periods of their revolution. To 
convey some conception of the prodigious labour 
bestowed by this great astronomer on some of his 
minutest calculations, and for the purpose of prov- 
ing to the youthful reader of these pages, that 
" there is no royal road to astronomy," the following 
extract from Playfair's Dissertation is subjoined: — 
*■ The industry and patience of Kepler, in this in- 
vestigation, (alluding to his observations upon the 
orbit of Mars,) were not less remarkable than his 
ingenuity and invention. Logarithms were not yet 
known, so that arithmetical computation, when 
pushed to great accuracy, was carried on at a vast 
expense of time and labour. In the calculation of 
every opposition of Mars, the work filled ten folio 
pages, and Kepler repeated each calculation ten 
times, so that the whole work for each extended to 
one hundred such pages : seven oppositions thus 
calculated produced a large folio volume. In these 
calculations, the introduction of hypothesis was un- 
avoidable, and Kepler's candour in rejecting them, 



CHAP. Ill J ASTRONOMY. 367 

whenever they appeared erroneous, without any 
other regret than for the time which they cost him, 
cannot be sufficiently admired. He began with hy- 
pothesis, and ended with rejecting every thing hypo- 
thetical. In this great astronomer, we find genius, 
industry, and candour, all uniting together as 
instruments of investigation."* 



Sect. II. 

HISTORY OF ASTRONOMY CONTINUED, 

From A. D. 1600 to 1650. 

275. That the beginning of the seventeenth cen- 
tury will be ever memorable in the annals of scientific 
history, all will readily admit, who remember, that 
then Galileo flourished ; that the telescope was 
then invented; and that, in consequence of this 
happy invention, a new and almost boundless field 
of research was opened to astronomers. Galileo 
was born at Florence, about a. d. 1564, became 
mathematical professor in the University of Pisa in 
1589, and in that of Padua in 1592. About the 
year 1609, the intelligence first reached him, that 
a Dutch optician, named Metius, had contrived a 
method of fixing two glasses in such a position as 
greatly to magnify objects seen through them. This 
hint was sufficient to fire the genius, and arouse the 
energies of Galileo, who commenced a series of 
experiments on lenses variously combined, till he 

* Play fair's Second Diss. p. 87. 



368 ASTRONOMY. [PART IV.. 

happily discovered that most important of all astro- 
nomical instruments — the telescope* Aided by his 
own inventive genius alone, he constructed a tele- 
scope formed of two lenses, (that nearest to the ob- 
ject, convex ; and that placed near the eye, concave,) 
which possessed a power of magnifying thirty-two 
times beyond that of the naked eye. Having first 
tried the effect of this instrument on terrestrial ob- 
jects, he next applied it to the heavens ; and was 
amply rewarded by a series of the most astonishing 
discoveries. A brief outline of these, is all that can 
now be attempted; but their general result, in spite 
of all the bigotry of superstition, and all the terrors 
of the Inquisition, was, the utter subversion of the 
Ptolemaic, and the absolute demonstration of the 
Copernican system. 

276. (1.) The moon was first subjected to atten- 
tive observation, on whose surface were perceived 
numerous inequalities, which led Galileo to the con- 
clusion that this secondary planet resembles the 
earth, being divided into continents and oceans, and 
interspersed with mountains, lakes, and rivers. The 
accurate delineation of the map of the moon, which 
he was thus enabled to make, greatly assisted in 
determining the time of its diurnal revolution, and 
in explaining many other curious phenomena 
respecting it. 

(2.) The fixed stars next engaged his attention, 
and the delight of this philosopher may be more 

* Some farther particulars respecting the history of this inven- 
tion, and its successive stages of improvement, will be found in 
a subsequent section, under the head of optics. (§ 328.) 



CHAP. III. ^ ASTRONOMY. 369 

easily conceived than described, at finding that mul- 
titudes of these distant luminaries were then, for 
the first time, brought within the sphere of human 
vision, on which the eye of man had never before 
rested, and which were not previously known to 
exist ; yet even he had no conception of the far 
greater multitudes to be discovered by more power- 
ful instruments, and affording the most overwhelm- 
ing conception of the magnitude, the immensity of 
the universe. 

(3.) The phases of Venus, resembling those 
exhibited by the moon, had been conjectured by 
Copernicus as highly probable phenomena, but were 
fully demonstrated by the telescopic observations of 
Galileo. 

(4.) Some of the satellites of Jupiter were next 
discovered by this illustrious astronomer. When 
three of these were first seen by him near the body 
of the primary planet, he took them for fixed stars ; 
but perceiving, by oft-repeated and long-continued 
observations, that they always accompanied Jupiter 
in his revolution, and constantly changed their places 
with reference to each other, as well as in relation 
to their primary, he concluded that they were really 
moons. This conclusion received further confirma- 
tion and proof by observing their eclipses, their 
periods of conjunctions and opposition, their pe- 
riodical revolutions, and many similar phenomena. 

(5.) When contemplating the planet Saturn, with 
the aid of his newly invented telescope, Galileo was 
struck with the singularity of its appearance. It 
seemed to him like three luminous globes, the larger 

B B 



370 ASTRONOMY. [PART IV. 

in the middle, and a smaller on either side. His 
observations were continued, till he found the two 
lesser globes disappear, and the planet looked single 
and circular, like the rest of the planetary bodies. 
This was the only explanation this philosopher could 
then give of the well-known phenomena of Saturn's 
ring, the complete discovery of which was reserved 
for future astronomers. 

(6.) Galileo discovered with his telescope some 
dark spots on the sun's disk, by the attentive observa- 
tion of which he was enabled not only to prove that 
that luminary revolves on its axis, but with some 
degree of accuracy to determine the time of his 
revolution. 

(7.) Above all, to Galileo we are indebted for the 
complete demonstration of the true solar system ; 
since he fully proved, by a multitude of observations 
on the orbits and revolutions of the planets, their 
common relation to the sun; and thus established, 
on an immoveable basis, the true theory of the 
heavens. 

277. This brilliant assemblage of astronomical 
discoveries was first made public about a.d. 1613, in 
" Dialogues on the System of the World," which 
contained a full exposition of the evidence of the 
earth's motion, and placed the errors of the old 
in striking contrast with the discoveries of the new 
philosophy. This work was written with singular 
perspicuity of reasoning, and true eloquence. It 
was read by scientific men with an enthusiasm of 
delight little inferior to that which its illustrious 
author had experienced in the discoveries themselves. 



CHAP. III. J ASTRONOMY. 371 

But the state of society was not as yet sufficiently 
advanced to admit of the unrestricted investigation 
of truth : and a very short time elapsed from the 
publication of the work containing these important 
developments, before its unfortunate author found to 
his cost the truth of this remark. 

The history of the persecutions endured by this 
great philosopher through a long series of years, on 
account of his defence and practical demonstration 
of the Copernican system, forms a melancholy and 
most disgraceful page in the annals of science. The 
Jesuits, the prelates and cardinals of the Church of 
Rome, with the pontiff at their head, alarmed at the 
progress which this new species of heresy was 
making, cited Galileo before the Court of Inqui- 
sition, and there bound him by solemn oath to ab- 
jure his errors, and subscribe a written avowal of 
his belief in the Ptolemaic system, which he had 
proved to be false ; at the same time pledging him- 
self never to publish any thing in future contrary to 
the doctrine of the holy Roman church on this sub- 
ject.* To this, after a tedious imprisonment, he 

* " Galileo was twice brought before the Inquisition. The 
first time, a council of seven cardinals pronounced a sentence, 
which, for the sake of those disposed to believe that power can 
subdue truth, ought never to be forgotten — * That to maintain 
the sun to be immoveable, and without local motion in the centre 
of the world, is an absurd proposition, false in philosophy, here- 
tical in religion, and contrary to the testimony of scripture. That 
it is equally absurd and false in philosophy to assert that the 
earth is not immoveable in the centre of the world ; and, con- 
sidered theologically, equally erroneous and heretical." — Vide 
Playfairs Second Diss. p. 91. 

B B 2 



372 ASTRONOMY. [PART IV. 

reluctantly assented ; but soon after, having obtained 
his liberty, committed a yet heavier offence by the 
publication of a third dialogue, in which he ventured 
not only to ridicule the advocates of the Ptolemaic 
philosophy, (not sparing even Aristotle himself,) but 
also adduced additional facts in proof of the true 
theory. This crime could not be forgiven. He was 
again immured in the dungeons of the Inquisition, 
about a.d. 1634, and his heretical books were pub- 
licly Tmrnt. Thus was this venerable philosopher, 
in his old age, harassed and worn out with perpetual 
citations, and hardships of various kinds, till death 
terminated his sufferings, and covered his perse- 
cutors with perpetual infamy. In 1639, he became 
blind ; and died in the vicinity of Florence, on the 
8th of January, 1642, in the seventy-eighth year of 
his age. 

278. Des Cartes, whose name is associated with 
almost every department of physical and intellectual 
science, was a contemporary of Galileo ; and, being 
happily placed more out of the reach of the papal 
hierarchy, could pursue his philosophical investi- 
gations with less interruption. In astronomy, he is 
chiefly celebrated for his application of a high degree 
of mathematical science to estimate the motions and 
measure the distances of the heavenly bodies. " He 
has the merit," says Playfair, " of being the first who 
undertook to give an explanation of the celestial 
motions on the principles of geometry/' or who 
formed the great and truly philosophical conception 
of reducing all the phenomena of the universe to 
the same law. Kepler had suggested the idea as 



CHAP. Ill/] ASTRONOMY. 373 

a matter of conjecture ; but Des Cartes furnished a 
solution of the problem." But this great philosopher 
was too much given to theory and speculation to 
follow the sober track of experimental science. His 
imagination delighted to rove at large amidst the 
immensity of the universe. Borne along by an 
ungcverned fancy, he dreamt of vortices and whirl- 
pools in the boundless regions of space, far beyond 
the reach of human observation, amidst which other 
systems and worlds were perpetually performing 
their grand revolutions, all of which were subject 
to the same general law, and kept in their due 
places by the nice adjustment of the centrifugal 
and centripetal forces, which regulated the move- 
ments of the bodies attached to our own solar system. 
This theory is a proof of the inventive genius and 
boundless imagination of its author ; but it is rather 
to be remembered among the magnificent specula- 
tions of human genius, than the discoveries of phy- 
sical science. 

279. Gassendt, who was also a native of France, 
and flourished at the same period with Galileo and 
Des Cartes, pursued a more safe, though a less 
brilliant track. He was content with furnishing 
additional evidence derived from the most careful 
and accurate observations of the truth of the Co- 
pernican system. In the annals of astronomical 
science, he is chiefly distinguished as the first indi- 
vidual who ever witnessed the comparatively rare 
phenomenon of the transit of Mercury over the 
sun's disk. This phenomenon, which Kepler had 
predicted, but did not live to see, took place in 1631, 



374 ASTRONOMY. [PART IV. 

and was minutely observed and described by Gas- 
sendi. A similar transit of Venus was seen, for the 
first time, by Horrox, a young English astronomer, 
in 1639, whose early death was deeply lamented by 
the astronomers of that age, as an irreparable loss to 
science. Gassendi published, at Paris, in 1654, a 
volume richly fraught with scientific information, 
containing the lives of Purbach, Regiomontanus, Co- 
pernicus, and Tycho Brahe : soon after the com- 
pletion of which he died, in the sixty-third year of 
his age. 

280. Hevelius flourished about the same time at 
Dantzic ; a laborious and indefatigable astronomer, 
who is most remarkable for his important improve- 
ments in astronomical instruments, his minute ob- 
servations on the solar spots, on the phases and 
spots of the moon, on the motions of comets, and 
on the refraction of light, as it is seen in the pheno- 
mena of rainbows, halos, and paraselenes, with many 
other physical appearances. His astronomical 
writings were exceedingly numerous, and continue 
to be held in high estimation. With this celebrated 
Prussian astronomer may be associated Riccioli, his 
friend and correspondent, who, though belonging 
to the order of Jesuits, was no enemy to science. 
This industrious astronomer compiled and published 
a great work, similar to that of Ptolemy's, entitled, 
" The New Almagest ;" in the execution of which 
he was greatly assisted by his learned friend and 
fellow-countryman Grimaldi, who first discovered 
the inflection of light. — {Vide infra, § 331.) 



CHAP. III.3 ASTRONOMY. 375 

Section III. 

HISTORY OF ASTRONOMY CONTINUED, 

From a. d. 1650 to 1700. 

281. Huygens contributed so essentially, during 
more than half a century, to the advancement both 
of the abstract and practical sciences, that he may 
with equal propriety be classed with the first of 
mathematicians, the profoundest of astronomers, 
and the most scientific of experimental philosophers. 
Perhaps his more important discoveries were those 
which relate to mechanical science, which will form 
the subject of a future section ; but, in the mean 
time, those which bear upon astronomical science 
must not be overlooked. 

Though the telescope had been discovered nearly 
forty years, some of its various uses were but little 
known, till Huygens brought his great practical 
science to bear on this important instrument. He 
not only constructed telescopes on a superior 
principle to any before known, but also suggested 
the combination of the quadrant with the telescope, 
and invented a micrometer of admirable construction, 
which, when introduced into his highly improved 
telescopes, enabled him to measure distances wholly 
imperceptible to the naked eye. " The magnifying 
powers of the telescope extend into a line that which 
to the eye seems but a point ; and that line may, by 
the use of a micrometer, be measured to so minute 
a space as a second." The great utility, therefore, 



376 ASTRONOMY. [PART IV. 

of this invention, soon became apparent in the 
increased accuracy and certainty with which the 
astronomer was enabled to measure small angles, 
and to calculate the parallaxes and distances of the 
heavenly bodies. But the principal objects to which 
the astronomical investigations of Huygens appear 
to have been directed, were the remarkable pheno- 
mena exhibited by the planet Saturn. The results 
of his observations on this planet were published in 
a distinct work, entitled " Systema Saturninum." 

282. The imperfect discovery of the singular 
configuration of Saturn, by Galileo, was noticed in 
the last section ; but Huygens, having brought the 
telescope to a higher degree of perfection by his 
mechanical science, discovered the true form of this 
planet. He clearly perceived, that instead of the 
two luminous globes which Galileo imagined to be 
attached to this planet, he was surrounded by a thin 
luminous belt or ring, which, being seen in an oblique 
direction from the earth, assumes an elliptical form ; 
and that when this belt is in such a position that its 
edge is directed towards the sun, it becomes invisible 
to us, because a sufficient number of the solar rays 
are not reflected from it to render it perceptible at 
so great a distance. Galileo had imagined, in 1615, 
that he saw two satellites attached to this planet, 
but afterwards concluded, from their remaining 
stationary nearly three years, and afterwards be- 
coming invisible, that they were fixed stars ; but 
Huygens, by the aid of a more powerful telescope, 
most evidently discovered one of these secondary 
planets, and was enabled to determine its periodical 



CHAP. 111.3 ASTRONOMY. 377 

revolution. To many other discoveries of this great 
astronomer, may be added that of the true cause 
of the tides, which he attributed to the combined 
influence of the sun and moon, though he was 
unable to demonstrate or explain the fact. After 
a long life most industriously employed in scientific 
researches, this illustrious philosopher died in his 
native city, a. d. 1695. 

283. Cassini the elder, flourished at Paris towards 
the close of the seventeenth century. He was born 
at Piedmont, a. d. 1635, and made so great pro- 
ficiency in mathematical science in early life, as in 
his fifteenth year to be appointed, by the Senate of 
Bologna, professor of mathematics in the university 
of that city. In the following year he made many 
important observations on a comet then visible, 
which added greatly to his celebrity as an astronomer. 
A few years afterwards, he distinguished himself still 
more in this department of science, by the accurate 
determination of a meridian line for the newly- 
erected cathedral at Bologna, and by his calculation 
of astronomical tables relative to the revolutions of 
Jupiter's satellites and the periods of their obscura- 
tion. These laborious undertakings attracted the 
attention and admiration of all Europe, and procured 
for him the appointment of Astronomer Royal in the 
Observatory of Paris, a station held by himself and 
his son during more than half a century. Here his 
opportunities for minute observation being greatly 
multiplied, he made many valuable discoveries, par- 
ticularly that of four additional satellites of Saturn, 
which, reckoned in the order of their respective 



378 ASTRONOMY. [PART IV. 

distances, are, the first, second, third, and fifth — 
the fourth having been previously discovered by 
Huygens. He also discovered and demonstrated 
the rotation of Mars and Jupiter on their axes, by 
means of spots perceived on their disks. Nor does 
it reflect less credit on the genius and industry of 
this great astronomer, that he succeeded in the 
solution of a problem relative to elliptic curves, which 
even the great Kepler had left undetermined. In 
his latter years, Cassini prosecuted the work which 
had been commenced by the Abbe Picard, a French 
astronomer of no mean reputation, who had made 
considerable progress towards measuring an arc 
of the heavens between Amiens, in Picardy, and 
Malvoisine, for the purpose of accomplishing an 
object in which the ancient astronomers had failed — 
that of determining the exact magnitude of the earth. 
The elder Cassini died at Paris, a. d. 1712, and was 
succeeded by his son, who had greatly assisted him 
in his astronomical researches. 

284. Having alluded to the astronomical tables 
of Cassini, relative to the satellites of Jupiter, it 
may be proper to introduce here an important dis- 
covery to which they led, soon after their publication. 
Roemer, a Danish astronomer, perceived a slight 
disagreement between the times in which the eclipses 
of the first of these satellites should take place, as 
laid down in Cassini's Tables, and that of the actual 
phenomenon. After long attempting in vain to 
account for this discrepancy, he first conjectured, 
and afterwards fully demonstrated, that it was 
occasioned by the time which a ray of light occupies 



CHAP. 111.3 ASTRONOMY. 379 

in traversing the earth's orbit ; for the obscuration 
begins sooner when the earth is in that part of its 
orbit nearest to the planet, and later when at its 
greatest distance. By this important discovery, a 
rule was obtained for the exact measurement of the 
velocity of light. 

285. Several continental astronomers, who flou- 
rished during the period under review, have been 
enumerated ; but there were also some English 
astronomers (exclusive of Sir Isaac Newton), who 
pursued the same track with scarcely inferior success. 
Out of many distinguished members of the Royal 
Society of London, who might be mentioned, three 
will be selected on account of their specific dis- 
coveries in astronomy. 

(1.) Hook, a native of Freshwater, in the Isle of 
Wight, was one of the earliest members of the 
Royal Society, and lectured on astronomy in 
Gresham College. " We are indebted to him," 
says Bossut, " for the first idea of the system of 
universal gravitation ; but with him it was rather 
an hypothesis than an ascertained fact." He con- 
jectured that the celestial bodies not only are 
attracted towards their common centre, but also 
are mutually attracted towards each other ; that, if 
left to themselves when in motion, they would con- 
tinue to move in a rectilineal direction; and that 
the power of attraction is greater or less, in pro- 
portion to the relative distances of bodies. It was, 
however, one thing to conjecture from appearances 
the possibility or even the probability of these facts, 
and another to demonstrate them, and discover the 



880 ASTRONOMY. [PART IV. 

law by which they are regulated. This honour 
belongs .exclusively to the illustrious Newton. 

(2.) Flamsteed was born in an obscure village 
of Derbyshire, about a. d. 1646. When the Royal 
Observatory was built at Greenwich by Charles II., 
he was appointed to superintend it ; and no appoint- 
ment could have been more congenial to his taste 
and pursuits. During his residence there, he made 
an immense number of astronomical observations, 
the results of which were occasionally communicated 
to the Royal Society, and first published in their 
Philosophical Transactions ; but afterwards collected 
into a volume, and published separately, under the 
title of " Historia Coelestis." To these were added 
valuable prolegomena, containing much scientific 
information, relative to the most recent astronomical 
discoveries. But the investigation which reflects 
most credit on the science and industry of Flamsteed, 
by which he rendered a most important service to 
astronomy, was, his enlarged catalogue of the fixed 
stars visible in the northern hemisphere, which 
amounted to nearly 3000; a far greater number 
than had been before discovered, and, in many re- 
spects, far superior to that which had been collected, 
a few years before, by Hevelius. 

(3.) But it was not sufficient, that the number and 
positions of the stars which illumine our northern 
climes should be accurately determined: scientific 
men felt it to be an object of great importance, that 
similar observations should be made with respect to 
the southern hemisphere. Halley, then a youth of 
about twenty years of age, undertook and executed 



CHAP. III.]] ASTRONOMY. oSl 

this task. In 1676, he proceeded to the island of 
St. Helena, the place on which he had fixed for the 
prosecution of his astronomical researches. During 
his residence on that island, he made as complete 
a catalogue of the fixed stars visible in that climate, 
as was then practicable, and grouped them into 
imaginary constellations, as they were delineated on 
the celestial globe ; — <e thus," says Bossut, " having 
added a new continent to the vast regions of astro- 
nomy." During his voyage, this youthful astronomer 
had the great satisfaction of observing that unusual 
phenomenon — the transit of Mercury over the sun's 
disc, on the 3d of November, 1677, the fourth time 
it had occurred since the invention of the telescope. 
Three years after his return from St. Helena, when 
crossing the English channel, on his way from 
Dantzic, he had the gratification of discovering, at 
its first appearance, the celebrated comet of 1680, 
which, on its nearer approach to the earth, spread 
terror and dismay throughout Europe. 

To the above list of astronomers, who flourished 
towards the end of the seventeenth century, many 
other distinguished names might be added, particu- 
larly those of the two Bernouillis, Richer, and the 
younger Cassini ; but as most of these chiefly flou- 
rished after a new and prodigious light had been 
poured upon the science by the genius of Newton; 
and since the principal facts of their scientific his- 
tory are necessarily interwoven with those of our 
great philosopher, it will be sufficient to notice them 
incidentally. 



382 ASTRONOMY. [PART IV. 



Section IV. 

ON THE ASTRONOMICAL DISCOVERIES OF SIR ISAAC 
NEWTON. 

286. Many of the greatest events in the history 
of mankind appear to have originated in compara- 
tively trifling causes. Such were the circumstances 
which led to the discovery of the great law of gra- 
vitation ; a discovery, which has rendered the name 
and memory of Newton immortal. Previously to 
the recital of these, it may not be irrelevant to advert 
to the advances which had been made in preceding 
ages, towards this most important discovery. The 
principle of gravity had been conjectured and hypo- 
thetically asserted by some of the ancient philo- 
sophers. Pythagoras is said to have taught his 
disciples, that u the gravity of a planet, (though 
it is doubtful in what sense the term is employed,) 
is four times that of another at twice the distance." 
Anaxagoras, (according to the statement of Dio- 
genes Laertius,) held that " the heavens are kept in 
their place, by the rapidity of their revolution, and 
would fall down, if that rapidity of motion were to 
cease ;" a conclusion to which he was probably led, 
not by any distinct conception of the centripetal and 
centrifugal forces, but merely by an attentive obser- 
vation of natural phenomena. Plutarch, in some of 
his philosophical writings, hazards a conjecture that 
" the moon is kept from falling out of its orbit, by 
the rapidity of her motion, just as a stone whirled 



CHAP. Ill/] ASTRONOMY. 383 

round in a sling, is prevented by the same cause 
from falling to the ground." Lucretius, in his cele- 
brated philosophical poem on the " Nature of 
Things," asserts, that " the atoms of which the 
universe is composed, would long ere now have 
united in the centre of the system, if it had not been 
so infinite as to have no centre." These are the 
chief, if not the only, notices found in the writings 
of the ancients, respecting the action of gravity on 
the celestial bodies, which are but to be accounted 
the reveries of ingenious men, not in possession of 
data on which to found any conclusive reasonings. 

287. Advancing to the period under review, it 
will be found, that several important steps had been 
taken towards the discovery of the law of gravi- 
tation, before the time of Newton. Copernicus 
asserts, in his treatise on the " Celestial Revolu- 
tions" that, in his opinion, gravity is nothing but 
the natural appetency of the parts of the earth to 
each other, given by the providence of the Supreme 
Being, that by uniting together, they may assume 
the form of a globe ;" and he adds a conjecture, 
that " this same affection belongs to the sun, the 
moon, the planets, and the fixed stars, all of which 
are also spherical." Kepler, in his celebrated work on 
the planet Mars, takes a yet more important step 
towards the discovery of the great fact in question ; 
for he there treats of "gravity, as acting from 
planet to planet, and particularly from the earth 
to the moon." Yet, with all this, he does not ap- 
pear to have so much as conjectured, that the 



384 ASTRONOMY. [PART IV. 

motions which he had so attentively observed, were 
attributable to this cause, though, by his celebrated 
laws, he established the principle of which this must 
be a necessary consequence. Galileo directed much 
of his attention to the subject of gravity ; but, in- 
stead of considering it as pervading the entire solar 
system, and constituting the great bond of union 
between the bodies of which it is composed, he 
imagined, that it formed " a part of the domestic 
economy of each planet separately ; and by doing 
this, receded farther from the truth than his illus- 
trious predecessor." 

One other stage of the discovery may be observed 
before its grand development, which was taken 
by Dr. Hook, and will be found in his treatise on 
" the Earth's Motion," published in 1674. In that 
work, it is laid down as a principle, on which all 
the celestial motions are to be explained, that the 
heavenly bodies have an attraction or gravity to- 
wards each other, as well as towards their own 
centres ; and that this force compelled them to 
move not in right lines, but in circles or other 
curves." — " This is, (says the learned professor, from 
whose luminous statement the preceding narrative 
has been abridged,) the farthest advance that the 
knowledge of the cause of the celestial motions had 
made before the investigations of Newton ; it is the 
precise point at which that knowledge had stopped ; 
having met with a resistance, which required a 
mathematician armed with all the powers of the 
new analysis to overcome. The doctrine of gravity 



CHAP. Ill/] ASTRONOMY. 385 

was yet no more than a conjecture, of the truth or 
falsehood of which, the measurements and reasonings 
of geometry could alone determine.* 

288. The apparently fortuitous circumstances, 
which led to the train of investigations terminating 
in this brilliant discovery, are thus described by one 
of the biographers and an intimate friend of the 
great astronomer. Having retired for a short time 
from Cambridge, on account of the plague of 1665, 
he was sitting alone in his garden, and began to 
speculate on the power of gravity. This power, he 
reflected, is not sensibly diminished at the greatest 
elevation from the earth, as on the summits of 
the loftiest edifices, or the highest mountains ; it 
must, therefore, extend farther than is generally sup- 
posed. Why not as high as the moon ? and, if so, 
her motion must be affected by it, — will this account 
for her revolution and orbit ? If to the moon, why 
not to the planets, and the whole solar system ? and, 
if so, will this explain their motions round the sun ? 
Following up this train of thought, by laborious 
mathematical calculations, he found, on comparing 
the relative distances of the several planets from the 
sun, that if any power, like that of gravity, retained 
them in their courses, it must decrease in the dupli- 
cate ratio of the increase of their distances. But 
being impressed with the idea which then generally 
prevailed, that the orbits of the planets were con- 
centric circles, he found that his calculations did 
not exactly correspond with what he then supposed 

* Playfair's Second Dissert, ut supra, p. 66 — 69. 
C C 



386 ASTRONOMY. [PART IV. 

to be the truth. Discouraged by this difficulty, 
he was on the point of abandoning altogether his 
train of speculations, as merely hypothetical and 
fallacious ; or, at least, he felt anxious to discover 
some other force, which, combining with that of 
gravity, might explain the supposed phenomena. 
But, happily, having been led to the discovery, by 
other inquiries, that the motion of the earth is ellip- 
tical and not circular, a new light seemed to 
break in upon his mind ; he saw at once the con- 
nexion between this discovery and his former re- 
searches into the operation of the law of gravity ; 
renewed and pursued those researches more vigor- 
ously, accompanied with accurate mathematical 
calculations ; nor stayed in his progress, till he 
arrived at the important results developed in his 
celebrated " Principia." " This important trea- 
tise," says Pemberton, " full of such a variety of pro- 
found inventions, was composed by Newton from 
scarcely any other materials than a few propositions 
previously established by himself, relative to the 
motions of the primary planets, in the space of one 
year and a half."* The publication of this work, in 
1687, marks a great aera in the history of human 
knowledge, and speedily effected a complete revolu- 
tion in the philosophical opinions and pursuits of 
mankind; withdrawing them from the vortices 
of the Cartesian philosophy, to investigate the laws 
of matter and motion, as exemplified in the entire 
system of nature. 

* Vide Pemberton's View of Sir Isaac Newton's Philosophy, 
Preface. 



CHAP. III.] ASTRONOMY. 387 

289. The great excellency of the Newtonian phi- 
losophy, (for such it may be most fitly designated,) 
consists in the solid basis of mathematical demon- 
stration on which its fundamental principles rest, 
and the innumerable physical proofs by which they 
are illustrated and confirmed. The great fact of the 
mutual attraction of bodies, had been previously 
ascertained ; Kepler's- celebrated laws, and Huygens' 
mechanical experiments, had gone far towards deter- 
mining the ratio of this tendency ; but the demon- 
stration of the exact measure of the centripetal and 
centrifugal forces, and the phenomena resulting 
from them, — the proof that the law of gravitation 
pervades the whole system of nature, applying alike 
to the mightiest masses and the minutest particles 
of which it is composed, — the accurate delineation of 
the motions and orbits of the heavenly bodies, in con- 
formity with this gravitating principle — all these are 
the glory of the new philosophy of which New- 
ton was the founder. The demonstration of this 
astonishing fact having been obtained by the new 
method of analysis, it was the next object of this great 
practical philosopher to determine the extent of this 
mysterious law of nature, by the most careful astro- 
nomical observations and to prove by experiment, that 
those phenomena occurred which science had taught 
him to expect, and that the consequences which had 
been anticipated, really followed in the physical 
system. On the principle of the mutual attraction 
of the heavenly bodies, all those irregularities, or 
rather inequalities, of motion, observable in the 
planetary revolutions, which had long perplexed 

cc 2 



388 ASTRONOMY. [PART IV. 

astronomers, were satisfactorily explained — such as 
the librations and evection of the moon — the disturb- 
ing forces, mutually exerted by primary and se- 
condary planets — the theory of the tides — and, above 
all, tlw precession of the equinoxes — with many other 
phenomena, which now constitute the chief objects 
of physical astronomy. Nor was it among the 
least of the discoveries resulting from the demon- 
stration of this law, that the true configuration of 
the earth was ascertained, and some difficult prob- 
lems were solved, connected with that fact ; such 
as the cause of the slower vibration of the pendulum, 
and the diminished intensity of attraction, at the 
equator than at the poles. 

290. But perhaps the most astonishing conse- 
quence of the discovery of the law of gravitation 
was, that it enabled the astronomer to estimate the 
magnitude and density of the planets. A rule of 
universal application was obtained, which was briefly 
this ; " that in any two bodies (their distances being 
the same) their power of mutual attraction is in 
proportion to the quantity of matter they respec- 
tively contain ; or, in other words, that they have a 
tendency to approach each other with velocities 
which are inversely as their quantities of matter." 
Applying this rule first to the moon, as the nearest 
of the planetary bodies, and subsequently to those 
more remote, Newton deduced, from an accurate 
observation of their distances compared with their 
velocity of motion, the mean density of each. Every 
succeeding year, and all the accumulated facts of 
modern science, have served but to confirm the 



CHAP. III.]] ASTRONOMY. 389 

truths and extend the application of these incontro- 
vertible principles, and heighten our admiration of 
the genius and science of their inventor. 

291. The preceding summary of the astronomical 
researches and discoveries of our great philosopher, 
cannot be more appropriately concluded, than by the 
following brief extract from another valuable work 
of the late Professor Playfair, in which they are all 
happily brought to bear on one point, and their 
mutual relation is distinctly traced. 

" Thus it is found, that the laws of motion and 
the general properties of matter are the same in the 
heavens and on the earth ; that the elliptical motions 
of the primary and secondary planets ; the small 
deviations from those motions, whether in the places 
of the planets or in the form and position of their 
orbits ; the facts which concern their figures, their 
rotation, and the position of their axis ; and lastly, 
the oscillation of the waters which surround the 
earth, are all explained by one principle, ' that of the 
mutual gravitation of all bodies, with forces directly 
as their quantities of matter, and inversely as the 
squares of their distances.' The existence of this 
force was not assumed as an hypothesis, but deduced 
as a necessary consequence from the general facts or 
laws discovered by Kepler. We have thus arrived 
at the knowledge of a principle which pervades all 
nature, and connects together the most distant 
regions of space, as well as the most remote periods 
of duration."* 

* Playfair's Outlines of Nat. Philos. II. p. 339. 



390 DYNAMICS AND MECHANICS. [PART IV. 

II. 

DYNAMICS AND MECHANICS. 



Sect. I. 

ON THE PROGRESS OF MECHANICAL SCIENCE DURING 
THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 

292. The connexion is so intimate between all 
the practical sciences, that it might reasonably have 
been expected, (and facts have abundantly verified 
that expectation,) that the sera in which any one of 
these has remarkably flourished, would be charac- 
terized by a proportionate improvement in all the 
rest. It was scarcely possible that such brilliant 
discoveries should have been made in astronomy, as 
have been sketched in the preceding sections, with- 
out a simultaneous and corresponding progression 
in all the departments of mechanical science, whe- 
ther it be regarded in the more abstract form of 
dynamics, or in the practical application of those 
general principles by various kinds of machinery. 
In like manner, we are prepared to expect that the 
same individuals, who have immortalized their names 
by astronomical researches and discoveries, would 
be those who occupy a prominent place in other 
departments of physical science, and especially in 
one so nearly allied as ?nechanics. That a more 



CHAP. Ill/] DYNAMICS AND MECHANICS. 391 

distinct conception may be formed, by the juvenile 
reader, of the two great divisions of modern science, 
the history of which is now to be sketched, during a 
period in which they were rapidly progressive, it 
may not be improper just to state that the term 
dynamics is employed to describe that branch of 
physico-mathematical science, which treats abstract- 
edly of the laws of matter and motion ; or, in other 
words, which teaches the doctrine of moving forces : 
mechanics denotes that division of the science which 
reduces to practice the principles of dynamics, and 
illustrates them by experiment. The inventions of 
mechanical philosophy serve to exhibit the manner 
in which the moving forces act, the laws by which 
that action is regulated, and the effects that must 
necessarily result in any given case from their prac- 
tical application. 

293. It has been already stated, (§ 93,) that 
dynamics, considered as a science, was wholly un- 
known to the ancients. Nor did any material 
alteration take place in that of mechanics, from the 
sera of Achimedes, to the middle of the sixteenth 
century. The principles laid down by that great 
practical philosopher, and exemplified by his stu- 
pendous machinery, had been applied to various 
uses by a few scientific men, such as Gerbert, Friar 
Bacon, and some others, who lived, at distant inter- 
vals, during the middle ages. But no new discovery 
had been made, — no new theories invented, — no new 
problems solved, through the whole of that long 
series of years. The first who can be said to have 
taken a single step in advance, was Guido Ubaldi, 



392 DYNAMICS AND MECHANICS. [PART IV. 

an Italian mathematician, who published, in 1577, a 
treatise on " Statics," in which he carried somewhat 
farther than the ancients had done, the problems 
relative to the equilibrium of bodies, by combining 
the pulley and lever, shewing their mutual relation 
and the principles common to both. Next in the 
order of time occurs Stevinus, a Flemish mathe- 
matician and natural philosopher, who, a few years 
after, succeeded in establishing some important 
principles with reference to the inclined plane. 
Though the ancients had discovered this mechanical 
power, they were comparatively ignorant of its na- 
ture and properties ; and seem to have had no con- 
ception of the important advantages which modern 
science had derived from it. Stevinus was the first 
who made known the laws of equilibrium, as it 
respects bodies placed on the inclined plane, by ac- 
curately determining the power requisite to sustain 
or to move a body thus situated at any given angle, 
or in any degree of inclination. The reasonings and 
experiments by which he arrived at this useful dis- 
covery are fully developed in his posthumous works, 
which were collected and published by Albert Girard, 
a.d. 1634. 

294. The theory and laws of motion must ever 
form an important branch of philosophical investi- 
gation. Of this fundamental branch of physical 
science, the philosophers of Greece and Rome, as 
well as the scientific Arabians of the middle ages, 
were almost wholly ignorant. They do not appear 
to have proceeded further than to the estimate of 
uniform motion, which, by the aid of mathematical 



CHAP. Ill/] DYNAMICS AND MECHANICS. 393 

science, they were able to determine with tolerable 
accuracy. But unacquainted as they were with 
the great cause of accelerated or retarded motion, 
it was not to be expected that they could estimate 
the effects resulting from that unknown and mys- 
terious agency. But from the time in which true 
philosophy revived under the auspices of such men 
as Copernicus, Kepler, and Galileo, this department 
of mechanical philosophy began to be cultivated 
with distinguished success. A memorable and highly 
important revolution was effected in the practical 
sciences, chiefly by the inventive genius and inde- 
fatigable labours of the latter of these great philo- 
sophers. From the asra in which Galileo flourished, 
(which was the close of the sixteenth and the be- 
ginning of the seventeenth centuries,) the combined 
application of geometrical and experimental science, 
to the solution of natural phenomena, may be dated. 

295. To enumerate all the valuable discoveries 
of this great practical philosopher, in connexion 
with this science of mechanics, would far exceed 
the assigned limits of the present work. A few of 
the more important, on which his posthumous fame 
chiefly rests, will be selected. 

(1.) The researches of Galileo, in conjunction 
with those of Kepler, led to the discovery of the 
laws of uniformly accelerated motion; a discovery 
which is the more interesting as an important step 
towards the development of the great law of gravi- 
tation. The great law established by Galileo on 
this subject was, that, " in bodies falling freely, that 
is, having no force acting upon them but that of 



394 DYNAMICS AND MECHANICS. [PART IV. 

gravity, and, consequently, in which the accelerated 
motion is uniform, " the spaces passed over are as 
the squares of their times" 

(2.) Nearly allied to the preceding was the dis- 
covery, that bodies of different densities fall from 
the same height in times so nearly equal, that the 
difference might reasonably be ascribed to the re- 
sistance of the air alone, and, consequently, that in 
all bodies falling freely, " the increments of velocity 
are equal in equal times" These principles were 
afterwards applied to the descent of bodies on in- 
clined planes, and other cases in which different 
forces were combined. 

(3.) Hence he was led to investigate the laws of 
motion as applied to projectiles, respecting which 
he demonstrated that the path described by a heavy 
body, projected with any velocity and at any degree 
of elevation, must be a parabolic curve, since two 
forces act upon it, the one equable along the line of 
projection, the other uniformly accelerated towards 
the earth; thus proving that he was not unac- 
quainted with the doctrines, to which, in modern 
times, the names of Composition of Forces, and 
Virtual Velocities, have been given. 

(4.) To this illustrious philosopher is also attri- 
buted the first indistinct conception and practical 
illustration of what is now termed " the law of con- 
tinuity," by which is intended, the fact so fully 
established by modern science, that all changes of 
motion are effected gradually, and not on a sudden ; 
so that no body can pass from one line of direction 
into another, without describing a curve, and taking 



CHAP. III.]] DYNAMICS AND MECHANICS. 395 

in its motion every possible direction from trie one 
to the other. The important bearing of this law, 
in explaining the phenomena of deflecting and 
central forces, renders the discovery, however im- 
perfectly made, highly interesting, and of great 
value. 

(5.) The preceding discoveries, it will be per- 
ceived, relate to dynamics properly so called, and 
comprehend almost the entire range of scientific 
investigations connected with that science. One or 
two may be added, which are purely mechanical. 
In a treatise on " Statics," published by Galileo, 
a.d. 1592, he fully established, both by facts and 
reasonings, two fundamental laws on mechanics, 
viz. that " the power and weight are in an inverse 
ratio ;" and that " what is gained in power is lost 
in time" These facts, simple as they may appear, 
led to the train of scientific discoveries enumerated 
above, relative to the doctrine of moving forces in 
general. 

(6.) Finally, from observing attentively the vibra- 
tions of the lamps suspended in the cathedral of 
Pisa, this ingenious philosopher was led to the dis- 
covery, that " the vibrations of a pendulum, whether 
moving in a greater or less area, are performed in 
equal times? This was a most important step 
taken towards the accurate measurement of time, 
on which account some have ascribed to Galileo the 
first invention of chronometers and clocks. The 
principle on which they must necessarily be con- 
structed, was undoubtedly discovered by him ; but 
its mechanical application was not as yet discovered. 



396 DYNAMICS AND MECHANICS. [PART IV* 

296. It is easy to conceive how the ardour of 
Galileo, in pursuing this train of investigations, 
must have been stimulated and increased by the 
obvious connexion between them and the then 
newly discovered system of astronomy. For though 
he was little aware of their extensive application, 
yet his own researches, and those of his illustrious 
contemporary Kepler, sufficiently proved that such 
a relation existed. They could not fail to perceive 
that the principles they had mutually established 
with reference to the portions of matter immediately 
within their observation, might also serve to explain 
the motions of the heavenly bodies. Nor could they 
be ignorant of the fact, though as yet unable fully 
to demonstrate it, that the same laws which regu- 
lated the path of a projectile, would account for the 
revolutions of the planets and their satellites in their 
several orbits, and in revolving round their common 
centre. 

297. This rapid sketch of the progress of physical 
science during the sixteenth century cannot be con- 
cluded without adverting to one of the most illustri- 
ous philosophers of that or any other age ; who, if 
he did not, like those enumerated above, employ 
himself in laborious processes and profound investi- 
gations into the phenomena of nature, yet accom- 
plished more, since he pointed out the true method 
of philosophizing, and thus prepared the way for 
future and more important discoveries. The person- 
age referred to is Lord Bacon, who flourished at the 
close of this century, and who will be more distinctly 
noticed under the head of " intellectual philosophy? 



CHAP. Ill/] DYNAMICS AND MECHANICS. 397 

This profound philosopher, conceiving most justly 
that the principal sources of ignorance and error, 
or rather the principal hindrances to the progress of 
true science, were the neglect of proper means to 
enlarge our knowledge, and the presumptuous at- 
tempt to theorise and speculate beyond the power 
of our limited faculties, pointed out the method 
which alone can be safely pursued, whether in phy- 
sical or intellectual science, — that of proceeding 
cautiously, step by step, on the sure basis of ex- 
periment, till we arrive at general principles, as the 
result of our inquiries and observations. 

The great principle which characterizes the 
philosophy of Lord Bacon, to which he himself 
rigidly adhered in his scientific researches, and which 
was still more practically regarded by Sir Isaac 
Newton, was, upon no consideration, to indulge 
conjectures concerning the powers and properties 
and laws of nature, but to make it our endeavour to 
search out by an inductive process the laws by which 
the constitution of nature is regulated. For we can 
only argue from that which is known to that which 
is unknown. The qualities of bodies become known 
to us only by experiments ; nor have we any other 
way of finding the properties of bodies beyond the 
reach of actual experiment, than by drawing con- 
clusions and deductions from phaenomena actually 
observed. To this principle of physical investiga- 
tion, it is added, as a needful and salutary caution, 
that the facts from which such conclusions are drawn 
must be numerous, and that due regard must be 
paid to objections which may be raised against them. 



398 DYNAMICS AND MECHANICS. [PART IV. 

A cursory view of those parts of Lord Bacon's 
valuable writings, which belong to the department 
of physical science, will sufficiently illustrate the 
nature and use of these fundamental principles, and 
justify the application to him of that truly honour- 
able distinction, by which he is more ennobled than 
by all the splendid titles affixed to his name, or the 
dignified offices he sustained — The Father of Ex- 
perimental Philosophy. 



Section II. 

history of dynamics and mechanics continued 
during the seventeenth century. 

298. Toricelli, the pupil of Galileo, (whose fame 
chiefly rests on his discovery of the weight of air by 
means of the tube which still bears his name,) con- 
tributed also to the advancement of mechanical 
science, by his minute experiments and accurate 
calculations respecting the velocity of falling bodies, 
and the position of the centre of gravity. The 
results of his observations on these subjects were 
communicated to the public in his well-known 
treatise, " De Motu gravium naturaliter accele- 
rato." " To this ingenious man," says Playfair, 
"we are indebted for the discovery of a remarkable 
property of the centre of gravity, and a general 
principle of great utility, with respect to the equi- 
librium of bodies ; which is, that if in a system of 
bodies, the centre of gravity is so fixed that it can 



CHAP. Ill/) DYNAMICS AND MECHANICS. 399 

neither ascend nor descend, those bodies will remain 
at rest. Scarcely is there a principle of greater 
practical utility than this in the whole range of 
mechanical science." 

299. The next important step towards the im- 
provement of practical mechanics was taken by the 
celebrated Des Cartes, not indeed without a mixture 
of error, as is usually the case in the earliest stages 
of all the experimental sciences. Setting out in his 
researches with the metaphysical notion, that the 
same quantity of absolute matter always exists in 
the world, he applied this principle, which is partly 
true and partly false, to the several cases of friction, 
percussion, and collision; and concluded that it 
equally applied to them all, in all possible circum- 
stances. The conclusion to which he was led, by 
his scientific investigations on this subject, was, that 
in the three several cases of a body impinging against 
another at rest, or moving in the same direction 
with different velocities, or moving in opposite di- 
rections, the result would be, that the sum of the 
motions after such collision, would be equal to the 
sum of the previous motions. This conclusion was 
just with regard to the two former, but it is con- 
trary to fact when applied to the latter of the above- 
mentioned cases. To this great philosopher is also 
attributed the more complete demonstration of the 
principle of the composition of forces, as it is seen 
in the curvilinear motion of projectiles, and the 
necessity of a deflecting force continually acting 
in conjunction with that of gravity to produce such 
a result. It is further evident from those parts of 



400 DYNAMICS AND MECHANICS. [PART IV. 

his philosophical writings, which relate to mechanics, 
that he explained more fully than any of his prede- 
cessors had done, the true nature of the centrifugal 
force, and ascribed that force to its true cause, viz. 
the tendency of matter to uniform and rectilineal 
motion. 

300. The mixture of theory with experiment 
tended greatly to diminish the value of Des Cartes' 
philosophical investigations. But we next meet 
with a scientific philosopher of a widely different 
character, who rigidly adhered in all cases to the 
evidence of facts. This was the distinguished Dutch 
philosopher Huygens, who was unquestionably the 
greatest mechanician of his age. Following up, 
with steady perseverance and unabated ardour, the 
track marked out by preceding philosophers, he suc- 
ceeded in making many discoveries of the utmost 
practical importance. Among others, he ascertained 
the true nature of the cycloidal arc, described by a 
pendulum, and applied it to the equal division of 
time. He fully demonstrated, that from whatever 
part of a cycloidal curve a heavy body falls, it 
always arrives at the lowest point of that curve in 
the same space of time. By this means the relation 
was discovered between the length of a pendulum, 
and the time of its least vibrations ; and thence 
followed the rules necessary to be observed in the 
manufactory of clocks, and upon which their accu- 
racy chiefly depends. This very remarkable pro- 
position would alone have been sufficient to render 
the name and memory of its inventor illustrious. 
But, in addition to this, many other valuable papers 



CHAP. III.3 DYNAMICS AND MECHANICS. 401 

were communicated by him to the philosophical 
societies of which he was a distinguished member, 
relative to the central forces in general, and particu- 
larly those of percussion and oscillation. 

301. A controversy arose about this period, in 
which posterity is little concerned, but which at the 
time was fiercely contested. The question related 
to the honour of the invention of the pendulum, as a 
rule for the measurement of time. The continental 
philosophers claimed the honour of this discovery 
for Galileo and Huygens. Dr. Hooke, an English 
mathematician and astronomer, claimed it for him- 
self. It is certain, that not these alone, but many 
other men of science in different parts of Europe, 
were, at the time of this discovery, investigating the 
nature and properties of the cycloid ; and, being em- 
ployed in the same researches, it is not improbable 
that they may simultaneously have hit upon the 
same discovery. Valuable papers were transmitted 
continually to the respective philosophical institu- 
tions of Europe, from the most eminent scientific 
philosophers of the age, such as Wallis, .Sir Christo- 
pher Wren, Huygens, Hooke, and others, closely 
connected with the object of this discovery, and from 
each of these valuable hints may have been derived. 
The conclusion, however, to which we are led by 
the detailed narrative of this controversy is, that 
Huygens and Hooke contributed most essentially to 
the accurate measurement of time — the former, by 
his discovery of the laws of pendular motion — the 
latter, by his invention of the use of a metallic spring 
in regulating the movements of a watch. 

D D 



402 DYNAMICS AND MECHANICS. [PART IV. 

In addition to the preceding highly important 
discoveries of Huygens, may be mentioned one 
which is indisputably his own, and without which all 
the rest had been comparatively useless. This was 
the solution of the problem by which to find the 
centre of oscillation; a solution which, in the 
opinion of a distinguished modern writer, whose 
authority none will venture to dispute, was " the 
most difficult of any which preceded the inven- 
tion of fluxions."* 

302. The above series of mechanical researches 
comprehends the principal of those which engaged 
the attention of scientific men before the dis- 
covery of the " analysis of infinites." There were 
many fellow-labourers in this department of science, 
who might have been enumerated, amongst whom 
the honour of carrying forward the new science of 
dynamics must be divided. Among these were, 
Wallis and Pascal, Roemer and Leibnitz ; but as 
their merit chiefly consists in following up the in- 
vestigations of others, rather than striking out a 
new path, it is not necessary to advert to them more 
particularly in this department of philosophy. It 
should however be stated, that while these general 
laws of mechanics were receiving additional confir- 
mation from various quarters, practical men were 
actively employed in bringing them to bear upon 
the purposes and pursuits of social life, by the in- 
vention of new machinery, or the improvement of 
instruments already in use. To this period may be 

* Playfair's Dissertation. 



CHAP. Ill/] DYNAMICS AND MECHANICS. 403 

referred the construction of machines, in which the 
laws of equilibrium and the doctrine of moving 
forces were strikingly exemplified and applied to 
important uses; such as, the improvement of navi- 
gation, by calculating, with greater exactness, the 
force of wind on distended sails — the construction of 
mills, worked by wind or water ; and especially the 
steam-engine, the first conception of which seems 
to have been suggested by the ingenious Marquis of 
Worcester, in his experiments made A. d. 1660, and 
the first rude model of which was constructed by a 
French mechanic towards the close of the century. 

303. After the discoveries of Newton, (which it 
will be proper, on account of their magnitude and 
importance, to make the subject of a distinct 
section,) the science of mechanics advanced rapidly 
towards its present state of perfection. In 1687, 
Varignon made an attempt to exhibit the combined 
influence of all the mechanical powers, in a treatise 
entitled " Project of a new System of Mechanics/* 
In 1695, La Hire published a similar work, illustra- 
tive of the laws of equilibria, as applied to all kinds 
of machinery ; and about the same period, as well 
as long afterwards, the Bernoullis enriched the 
science with many valuable writings on " statics," 
containing the results of their profound investiga- 
tions into the properties of matter and laws of 
motion. The following extract from Playf air's 
Review of the History of Mechanical Science, at that 
period, exhibits at one view the principal objects of 
investigation, which then occupied the attention, 
and called forth the energies of the most enlightened 

dd 2 



404 DYNAMICS AND MECHANICS. £pART IV, 

philosophers of Europe : — " Such problems as that 
of finding the centre of oscillation — the nature of the 
catenarian curve *— the determination of the line of 
swiftest descent — the retardation produced to 
motion in a resisting medium, whatever might be 
the degree of that resistance — the determination of 
the elastic curve, or that into which an elastic spring 
forms itself, when a force is applied to bend it — all 
these were problems of the greatest interest, and were 
now resolved for the first time ; the science of me- 
chanics being sufficient, by means of the composition 
of forces, to find out the fluxionary or differential 
equations, which expressed the nature of the gradual 
changes which in all these cases were produced ; and 
the calculus," (or mathematical process then newly 
invented,) " being now sufficiently powerful to infer 
the properties of the finite, from those of the infi- 
nitesimal quantities."* 



Section III. 



ON THE MECHANICAL DISCOVERIES OF SIR ISAAC 
NEWTON. 

304. The first part of the celebrated " Prin- 
cipia Mathematica" of Sir Isaac Newton, relates 
exclusively to the subject of this section ; and, per- 
haps, no better mode can be adopted of exhibiting 
a summary view of this division of his physical 

* Vide Playfair's Second Diss, and Encyc. Britt. New Sup. 
Vol. IV. pp. 41,42. 



CHAP. Ill/] DYNAMICS AND MECHANICS. 405 

researches and discoveries, than presenting an out- 
line of the principal contents of that work, as far 
as they relate to mechanical philosophy. The 
chapters to which we especially refer, are those 
which treat of the properties of matter— the laws 
of motion — the composition of forces, and their 
influence on bodies variously circumstanced— toge- 
ther with the properties and use of the mechanical 
powers, whether separately or in a state of combi- 
nation. To this memorable work, which may justly 
be accounted the chef d'oeuvre of modern science, 
and an imperishable memorial of the mighty genius 
of its author, it is requisite to refer the reader for 
the full development of principles, which can be 
exhibited here but in faint outline. 

305. The treatise commences with a series of 
definitions explanatory of the terms about to be 
employed ; such as, the quantity of matter and of 
motion — the different kinds of forces, whether that 
of inertia, or the centripetal, or any other exter- 
nally impressed — time and space, both relative and 
absolute; with some other essential or accidental 
properties and adjuncts of matter. The author 
next propounds, in the form of axioms, his three 
celebrated Laws of Motion ; which, as forming the 
basis of his entire system of mechanical philosophy, 
it will be proper distinctly to state. 

(1.) That all bodies have such an indifference to 
rest or motion, that if at rest, they remain so till 
disturbed by some force acting upon them ; or if 
in motion, they continue to move forward in a 
rectilineal direction, and with uniform velocity,. 



406 DYNAMICS AND MECHANICS. [PART IV. 

unless turned aside, stopped, or impeded in their 
course, by some new power impressed upon them. 

(2.) That the change effected in the motion of 
any body (whether its transition be from rest to 
motion, or from motion to rest, or from one degree 
of motion to another), is always proportional to 
the force impressed, and in the direction of that 
force. 

(3.) That action and reaction are equal ; or, in 
other words, that if one body act upon another, 
the quantities of motion produced are equal in the 
body acting, and in that acted upon. 

Of each of these fundamental laws, mathematical 
proofs and practical illustrations are given, sufficient 
to place them beyond the possibility of reasonable 
doubt. 

306. This solid and immoveable basis having 
been laid, the illustrious author proceeds to raise 
upon it the whole structure of dynamic and me- 
chanical science. These principles are applied to 
the solution of the phenomena of uniform, ac- 
celerated, and retarded motion — of motion produced 
by percussion, collision, or friction — to projectile, 
deflecting, and central forces — to the perpendicular, 
oblique, or curvilinear ascent and descent of bodies 
— to the cycloidal arch, and the properties and laws 
of pendular motion, whether vibrating in a circle 
or a cycloid— to the centres of gravity, oscillation, 
and percussion — to the line of swiftest descent ; 
with many other objects of investigation connected 
with the absolute or relative motion of bodies, and 
their several ratios of velocity. From the simplest 



CHAP. III.]] DYNAMICS AND MECHANICS. 407 

elementary truths, this philosopher proceeded, by a 
train of inductive reasonings, to the investigation of 
forces acting under all conceivable circumstances, 
either uniformly or at intervals, either in an in- 
creasing or a decreasing ratio, either freely and 
without resistance, or when counteracted by other 
forces acting in contrary directions. In all these 
or any other supposable cases, either of simple or 
compound forces, he calculated the velocity with 
relation both to time and place — the distances 
passed over in any given time — the magnitude and 
density of the moving bodies, &c. Such are the 
principal subjects of profound investigation to which 
the facts and reasonings of the " Principia" refer, 
and to which also we are chiefly indebted for the 
brilliant discoveries of modern astronomy. 

307. From these mere abstract principles, a trans- 
ition is made to the mechanical powers ; when the 
author describes their nature, calculates their effects 
in any given case, and arrives at some general laws 
respecting them. The varieties of the lever, the 
pulley, the wheel and axis, the screw, the wedge, 
and the inclined plane, are minutely described, and 
the force of each is estimated, together with the laws 
of equilibrium respecting them. These were, how- 
ever, but elementary to his great design,— that of 
applying the principles of mechanical science to the 
motions and revolutions of the heavenly bodies, and 
the entire system of the universe. With unutterable 
delight must this mighty genius have perceived, as 
he pursued his wondrous track, and penetrated 
farther and deeper into the mysteries of nature, 



408 DYNAMICS AND MECHANICS. [[PART IV* 

that all the vast machine was put in motion, and 
all those motions were regulated, by one great, 
universal, mysterious agent, to which was given the 
name of gravitation, but which is, in reality, no 
other than the power of Deity pervading all his 
works, and constantly excited to preserve the order 
and harmony of the material universe. This con- 
stitutes the principal glory of this truly philosophical 
system. The grand and comprehensive view it 
exhibits of the mechanism of the natural world, is 
its distinguishing excellency, which has been thus 
happily characterised by Playfair : — " It is seen in 
the new application of mechanical reasoning, by 
transferring it from earth to heaven ; from small 
portions of matter to the mechanism of the uni- 
verse—in the reduction of questions concerning 
force and motion, to geometrical problems, and 
thus rendering them no longer subjects of specula- 
tion, but capable of proof — and in the mensuration 
of mechanical action by its nascent effects, applying 
the same principles and general laws to the calcula- 
tion of the greatest, as well as the least moving 
force."* 

* Vide Playfair's Dissert, ut supra. 



CHAP. III.]] HYDROSTATICS. 409 

III. 

HYDRODYNAMICS AND PNEUMATICS. 



Section I. 



HISTORY OF HYDROSTATICS, &C CONTINUED, 

From a.d. 1600 to 1650. 

308. The general principles which have been 
adverted to under the head of Mechanics, could 
scarcely fail to direct the attention of the philoso- 
phers of Europe to kindred branches of physical 
science. Applicable as those principles were to 
fluid as well as solid bodies, it was to be expected 
that, while some constructed machines illustrative 
of the moving forces, or the laws of equilibrium 
with reference to solids, others would direct their 
researches to the influence of the same causes of 
motion or rest on the two species of fluids with 
which we are most familiar — namely, air and 
water. Without attempting to exhibit in detail all 
the discoveries made by scientific men, at the me- 
morable period under review, in these compre- 
hensive divisions of natural philosophy, a brief 
account will be given in the present section, of the 
most important and useful of those scientific de- 
velopments. 

And here (as in the former case) it is requisite 
to commence with Stevinus, of whose personal 



410 HYDROSTATICS. [PART IV. 

history little is known, but who contributed in no 
inconsiderable degree, both by his experiments and 
writings, to the advancement of the practical sciences. 
In hydrostatics, he is said to have first made the 
discovery, that " the pressure of a fluid on the bot- 
tom of a vessel is always as the product of the 
altitude and the area of the base, whatever may be 
the shape of the vessel, or whatever quantity of the 
fluid it may contain." The practical demonstration 
of this theorem was, at the time of its discovery, 
little regarded ; its importance was not felt, nor 
were its extensive bearings perceived : but it has 
been long since classed with the fundamental prin- 
ciples of hydrostatic science. Though the honour 
of this discovery unquestionably belongs to Stevinus, 
he was little aware of its intimate connexion with 
all the principal phasnomena relative to the equili- 
brium and pressure of fluids ; and especially with 
its application to what has since been called the 
hydrostatical paradox. It remained for the vigorous 
and comprehensive genius of Pascal to develop its 
true nature and extent. In a treatise, published 
by that enlightened philosopher a short time before 
his death, on the " Equilibrium of Fluids? he availed 
himself of this principle, (which Stevinus had pre- 
viously demonstrated,) for the purpose of proving 
the equal pressure of fluids, while in a state of rest, 
and to explain the apparent paradox, that a slender 
column, pressing on the same base, will hold in 
equilibrio a mass of the same fluid of equal height, 
however disproportionate their relative quantities 
might be. 



CHAP. Ill ^ HYDROSTATICS. 411 

309. While these advances were making by slow 
and almost imperceptible degrees in that branch of 
hydrodynamics, to which the name of hydrostatics 
has been given, because it relates to the phenomena 
of fluids at rest, some curious and useful experi- 
ments were carrying on with reference to that 
kindred branch of the science, which treats of fluids 
in motion, technically termed hydraulics. About 
a.d. 1628, Castelli, (who had been a disciple of 
Galileo, and had imbibed from his illustrious pre- 
ceptor an ardent desire of knowledge, and un- 
wearied diligence in the investigation of natural 
phenomena,) published a small but valuable treatise, 
containing the results of his observations on the 
phenomena of fluids in a state of motion ; the de- 
gree of resistance they oppose to solid bodies im- 
merged in them, or floating on their surfaces ; and 
the impetus acquired by confinement and compres- 
sion. The chief object of Castelli's treatise was to ex- 
plain some of the phenomena of water flowing in 
natural or artificial channels, of whatever dimen- 
sions ; and the general principle established was, 
that " the velocities of a stream at different sections, 
made perpendicular to the line of its motion, are in 
the inverse ratio of the surfaces of those sections. 
Toricelli, another and a far more celebrated disciple 
of Galileo, carried farther this train of physical in- 
vestigations, by explaining the theory of fountains 
and jets, or of fluids spouting in any direction 
through small apertures. On this subject he de- 
monstrated, that " water issues from a hole in the 
side or bottom of a vessel, with the velocity which a 



412 HYDROSTATICS. [PART IV, 

body would acquire by falling freely or perpendicu- 
larly from the level of the surface to that of the 
orifice." With regard to fountains, this most in- 
genious philosopher proved, that water thus com- 
pressed will rise so nearly to the height of the 
reservoir with which it is connected, as to prove the 
truth of the general theorem stated above, due 
allowance being made for friction and the resistance 
of the superincumbent column of air. The results 
of these investigations into the laws of spouting 
fluids were communicated in a work, on " the 
accelerated Motion of Heavy Bodies," published 
about a.d. 1644. 

310. But these researches and discoveries, though 
in themselves highly interesting, and in their con- 
sequences of great practical utility, constitute a 
very small part of the benefits conferred on succeed- 
ing ages by Toricelli. There is one which cannot 
fail to immortalize his name and memory — his 
demonstration of the pressure and weight of air by 
means of the barometer, or, as it is sometimes called, 
the Toricellian tube. The following is a brief out- 
line of the history of this important invention. — 
Some Florentine engineers inquired of Galileo the 
reason why they were unable, by the action of a com- 
mon pump, to raise water more than thirty-two feet 
above the level of the well or reservoir with which 
it was connected. Unable to give a more satisfac- 
tory reply, he answered, agreeably to the prevailing 
philosophy of that age, that it was " because nature 
abhorred a vacuum" But this great philosopher 
was too enlightened and scientific a man to feel 



CHAP. III.]] HYDROSTATICS. 413 

perfectly satisfied with the reason which he had 
assigned, and commenced a series of experiments 
with the hope of ascertaining the true cause of the 
phenomenon in question. He was not, however, 
so fortunate as to succeed ; but, soon after his death, 
Toricelli pursued the investigation with complete 
success. He began with ascertaining the com- 
parative density of air and mercury, which he found 
to be in the proportion of one to fourteen ; then, 
by repeated experiments, he ascertained that mer- 
cury would not naturally rise more than ^th part of 
thirty-two feet above its level. The conclusion was 
obvious, that the same cause, whatever it might be, 
must operate in both cases; and the solution of the 
phenomenon which immediately occurred to this 
ingenious philosopher was, that the weight of the 
column of fluid in each case prevented its higher 
elevation ; and that there was some other force which 
then held it in equilibrio. What could this be, but 
the weight of the atmospheric air resting on the 
surface of the fluid ? From these previous steps, he 
was led to infer, that the weight of a column of 
water thirty- two feet high, or of quicksilver fourteen 
times less, is equal to a column of atmospheric air, 
reaching from the earth's surface to the upper ex- 
tremity of that fluid — thus not only proving the 
weight and pressure of air, but furnishing a rule by 
which its comparative density may be estimated. 

311. The Cartesian philosophers took alarm at 
the discovery of a fact so fatal to their favourite 
dogma of " Nature's abhorrence of a vacuum." Some 
questioned the accuracy of the experiment ; others 



414 HYDRODYNAMICS AND PNEUMATICS. pPART IV. 

denied the legitimacy of the conclusion deduced from 
it. But in this case also, the inventive genius of 
Pascal promoted the advancement of science, and 
led to the triumph of truth over deeply-rooted pre- 
judices. Causing a barometer, constructed agree- 
ably to the directions of Toricelli, to be conveyed to 
the summit of Puy de Dome, a mountain in Au- 
vergne, he found that the mercury descended, as 
the barometer was more elevated ; that is, in exact 
proportion as the column of air which pressed upon 
it was diminished in altitude and weight. It was 
immediately apparent, that this additional fact 
would furnish a rule by which to measure the 
height of mountains ; a purpose to which it has, in 
modern times, been most successfully applied. To 
the honour of Toricelli, it should be added, that so 
far was he from being elated with his success in 
having made so curious and important a discovery, 
that he felt and expressed the deepest regret, that 
it had not fallen to the lot of his beloved preceptor, 
Galileo, to make the first development of this great 
physical fact. 



Sect. II. 

HISTORY OF HYDRODYNAMICS AND PNEUMATICS CON- 
TINUED, 

From A. d. 1650 to 1700. 

312. The invention of the barometer, and the 
demonstration thus obtained of the gravity and 



CHAP. III.*] HYDRODYNAMICS AND PNEUMATICS. 415 

pressure of air, led the practical philosophers of 
Europe into new trains of investigation. They en- 
deavoured, by different modes of operation, to 
remove more effectually the pressure of air, and pro- 
duce a more perfect vacuum than had hitherto been 
obtained. With this view, hydraulic engines of 
various kinds were constructed, for the purpose of 
raising water to any degree of elevation which 
might be required, or increasing the velocity of its 
motion. Of this description were forcing pumps, 
syringes, and many similar contrivances of great 
practical utility. But among all the inventions of 
this period, none has contributed so effectually to the 
advancement of science, as that of the air-pump. 
The honour of this invention unquestionably belongs 
to Otto Guericre, a counsellor of Magdeburg, who 
flourished about a.d. 1654. The first intimation 
was given of this important discovery in the 
" Technica Curioscf of Schottus, who was at that 
time professor of mathematics in the university of 
Wirtemberg. From this authentic source of infor- 
mation we learn, that the first attempts of Guerick6 
to produce a vacuum were extremely rude and im- 
perfect. He filled a barrel with water, from which 
he drew part of the fluid by means of a common 
sucking pump, but had not proceeded far in the 
operation, before the weight of the external air 
burst the vessel with a violent explosion, thus 
" proving the weight of air as effectually by the 
failure of his experiment, as he could have done by 
its complete success." The experiment was fre- 
quently repeated, and the result was uniformly the 



416 HYDRODYNAMICS AND PNEUMATICS. [PART IV. 

same ; until a rude machine was constructed with a 
glass globe affixed to it, which resisted the pressure 
of the air, and enabled him to obtain the desired 
end. Imperfect as was the instrument employed, it 
led to the discovery of another fact, highly im- 
portant in the science of pneumatics, namely, the 
great expansibility and elasticity of air.* 

313. Doctrines so new, and facts so surprising 
and almost incredible as those now developed, could 
not fail to awaken the ardour of scientific men. The 
most distinguished members of the philosophical 
societies then recently established in Europe, made 
them the frequent theme of their correspondence, 
and the object of their diligent research. None, 
however, pursued this new train of experiments 
more successfully than the excellent Boyle, a man 
distinguished still more by his fervent piety, than by 
his philosophical science. This great experimen- 
talist had been attempting, from the time of Tori- 
celli's discovery of the weight of air, to make 
observations on the appearances of bodies of various 
kinds when freed from the pressure of air, and had 
devised numerous expedients by which to obtain 
a vacuum ; but finding these processes laborious, 
and the results uncertain, he hailed with delight 
the intelligence of Guericke's discovery, when an- 
nounced by the publication of Schottus ; and though 

* The subsequent improvements made in the air-pump by 
this ingenious philosopher, and the successive steps by which he 
was led onward to higher and more important discoveries, will 
be found detailed at considerable length in the Encyc. Britt. 
Vol. XV. (article Pneumatics) § 91 — 95 ; and also in many other 
modern treatises on Pneumatics. 



CHAP. HI.)] HYDRODYNAMICS AND PNEUMATICS. 417 

110 description was given of the Magdeburg instru- 
ment, immediately set about the construction of an 
air-pump, on a plan contrived by himself; so that 
he may be accounted the second inventor of that 
useful machine. Successive improvements were 
added year by year, which were either the fruit 
of his own inventive genius, or suggested to him 
by his learned friends ; till the instrument had 
arrived at a considerable degree of perfection. The 
philosophical works of Boyle contain an immense 
number of experiments made by him, which were in- 
tended to prove the expansibility of air — its power 
to dissolve water, to extinguish light, and to produce 
combustion, — its necessity for respiration and vege- 
tation, with innumerable other facts of great prac- 
tical importance. 

314. The experiments of Toricelli, Pascal, Huy- 
gens, Boyle, Hooke, and many others, both in 
hydrostatics and pneumatics, had fully demon- 
strated the fallacy of the Cartesian notion of a 
plenum, or the theory which supposed that all 
space is filled with matter, either in a solid or fluid 
state. But it remained for the illustrious Newton, 
and other celebrated mathematicians of that age, to 
furnish a scientific refutation of the popular theory 
by their profound investigations into the nature and 
properties of fluids, both elastic and non-elastic. 
A valuable portion of the " Principia" of Sir Isaac 
Newton treats of the resistance and compres- 
sibility of fluids, and the general laws by which 
their motions are regulated. The design of this 
part of his philosophical writings, is to apply the 

E E 



418 HYDRODYNAMICS AND PNEUMATICS. [PART IV. 

great principles of dynamics to fluid, in common 
with solid bodies, and shew that the same effects 
are produced in both cases by the composition of 
forces. On this subject he first demonstrates, that 
the resistance which s*olid bodies moving in fluids 
encounter, gradually increases in proportion to the 
space they occupy, the velocity with which they 
move, and the time they have been in motion. 
Thence he proceeds to investigate their different 
degrees of density ; the causes of resistance arising 
either from the vis inertice of matter, or the tenacity 
of fluid particles, or the friction of solids moving in 
them or floating on their surface ; and also the 
velocities with which they move in all possible 
cases. From these researches into the laws of 
motion, as applied to incompressible fluids, this 
great philosopher proceeds to investigate the phe- 
nomena of those which are elastic, and estimates 
the degree of resistance encountered from this 
cause. He demonstrates that the measure of that 
resistance will be in exact proportion to the density 
of the body, and the density of the fluid, on each 
of which the repelling force of the elastic fluid will 
depend. The last object of investigation in this 
department of philosophy, relates to the effect pro- 
duced by the different configuration of bodies 
moving in fluids ; an inquiry of immense import- 
ance to the art of navigation, as well as applicable 
to many other mechanical processes. 



CHAP. III.;] OPTICS, 419 

IV. 
OPTICS. 



Section I. 

ON THE PROGRESS OF OPTICAL SCIENCE DURING THE 
SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 

315. The history of Optics has been already 
sketched in its earlier stages. The visionary 
theories of Plato, the practical science of Archi- 
medes, the progressive discoveries of Ptolemy, 
Alhazen, Roger Bacon, and Vitello, have been cur- 
sorily noticed in former divisions of this work.* 
But all the inventions and improvements of pre- 
ceding ages, in connexion with this department of 
science, are as nothing compared with those which 
are now to be related. When this is asserted, 
no reflection is intended on the ancients. They 
achieved great things with their slender means and 
imperfect instruments of observation. The brilliant 
discoveries of modern times are chiefly attributable 
to the almost fortuitous invention of instruments of 
great power, unknown to the philosophers of former 
ages, and without which those discoveries could not 
possibly have been made. The modern history of 
this science (as far as it is intended to be pursued 
in this elementary volume) may be conveniently 

* Vide§ 106, 107, 111, 211, 225. 
EE 2 



420 optics. [[part iv. 

divided into three parts ; the first, including the 
progress made before the invention of the telescope 
— the second, extending from that memorable aera 
to the time of Newton — and the third, comprehend- 
ing the optical discoveries of that great philosopher 
himself. 

316. At the commencement of the sixteenth cen- 
tury two individuals flourished, who have acquired 
an honourable distinction among the earliest pro- 
moters of optical science. These were Mauroly- 
cus of Messina, and Baptista Porta of Naples. 
Maurolycus was, as already stated, a profound ma- 
thematician, who brought his geometrical science to 
bear with great effect on his optical investigations. 
Baptista Porta was an experimentalist, who owed 
his most valuable discoveries to the careful obser- 
vation of the phenomena of nature. 

Maurolycus chiefly directed his researches, in 
this branch of physical science, to the laws of re- 
fraction as they affect the visual organ — to the struc- 
ture and mechanism of the human eye — to some of 
the properties of light — and to the nature and 
causes of the rainbow. He was the author of two 
treatises on the general theory of optics ; one 
entitled, " Theoremata Lucis et Umbrce ;" the other, 
" Diaphanorum Partes" &c. ; both of which con- 
tain curious and highly interesting researches into 
the phenomena of light, whether refracted or re- 
flected. These, though frequently erroneous, un- 
questionably prepared the way for future discoveries, 
and, by doing this, rendered a valuable service to 
posterity. The most important of the optical dis- 



CHAP. III.] OPTICS. 421 

coveries of Maurolycus (if, indeed, they were his), 
relate to the theory of vision, as developed by the 
structure of the human eye. He is said to have 
first demonstrated, that the crystalline humour of 
the eye is a lens, that collects the rays of light 
issuing or reflected from external objects into a 
focus, by which means they are rendered visible : 
and also to have assigned as a reason for more or 
less distinct vision, the greater or less convexity of 
this crystalline lens. Another curious discovery 
attributed to Maurolycus is, a solution of the true 
cause of the circular appearance of the sun, though 
its rays are transmitted into a dark room through 
angular apertures. To the preceding may be 
added, his observations on the rainbow, in which 
his profound mathematical science was successfully 
applied to the measurement of the interior and 
exterior arches, and the spaces between them. 

317. Baptista Porta is chiefly celebrated as the 
inventor of the camera obscura; the first announce- 
ment of which was made in a celebrated work en- 
ticed, " Magia Naturalist This book greatly 
alarmed the papal hierarchy, and was denounced 
at its first publication as heretical ; but it contained 
such a mass of curious and valuable information on 
all subjects connected with the science of optics, 
that it speedily obtained a rapid and almost univer- 
sal circulation. It was translated into the Italian, 
French, Spanish, German, and Arabic languages ; 
and great multitudes of persons from distant parts 
of Europe repaired to Naples to obtain further 
information respecting the optical illusions which 



422 optics. [[part iv. 

it developed. The description given in this work 
of the camera obscura is extremely brief, and con- 
stituted a very subordinate object of attention. It 
is almost incidentally mentioned; for he merely 
states (among other curious facts), that " if a small 
hole be made in the shutter of a window, all ex- 
ternal objects will be visible, in their proper colours, 
on the opposite wall ; and farther, that if a convex 
lens be placed in the aperture, the images in the 
focus of that line will be rendered much more 
distinct ; so distinct, that even the features of per- 
sons out of the room may be distinguished by those 
within." Yet this simple discovery, thus unosten- 
tatiously announced, has rendered the name of its 
inventor celebrated in the annals of science. B. 
Porta does not appear to have been acquainted with 
the experiments of Maurolycus on the human eye, 
but pursued independently a similar train of in- 
vestigation, and arrived nearly at the same results, 
as is evident from his assertion in a part of his 
Magia Naturalis, that the eye is a natural camera 
obscura ; an assertion, the correctness of which has 
been abundantly demonstrated, 

318. But notwithstanding the advances made by 
the two above-mentioned philosophers, towards a 
correct knowledge of the theory of vision, neither 
Maurolycus nor his ingenious contemporary fully 
understood the process by which objects become 
visible. Both appear to have imagined that the 
pupil of the eye, and not the retina, is chiefly con- 
cerned in this phenomenon. The illustrious Kepler, 
who first developed the true laws of planetary 



CHAP. Ill/] OPTICS. 423 

motion, supplied also this important link in the chain 
of optical science. Following up the train of dis- 
covery commenced by Porta and others, he analysed 
carefully the entire process of nature in the struc- 
ture of the eye, and the adaptation of its several 
parts to the perception of objects. He proved that 
the images of external objects are painted on the 
retina ; explained the cause of their inverted appear- 
ances, and solved the problem, why objects thus 
inverted on the retina, appear to the observer in 
their natural position ; measured the angles of 
divergence or convergence under which they are 
seen, and proceeded far towards the development 
of the laws of refraction. The results of these im- 
portant investigations are contained in his treatise 
on " Dioptrics." Nor was Kepler the only scientific 
philosopher of that age, who illustrated this inte- 
resting branch of optical science. Antonio De Do- 
minis, Schemer, Snellius, Des Cartes, and Kircher, 
all contributed, in various degrees, to its advance- 
ment. 

319. Antonio De Dominis, Bishop of Spalatro, 
made some important discoveries in the theory of 
refraction, in consequence of his diligent and minute 
observation of the phenomena of the rainbow. 
Though many philosophers of higher reputation 
and much greater science had directed their atten- 
tion to the remarkable appearance of the Iris, all 
had failed to discover its true cause. De Dominis 
perceived, that it is occasioned by a double refrac- 
tion and one reflection, and illustrated the fact by a 
familiar experiment. " Having placed a bottle of 



424 optics. [[part. iv. 

water opposite to the sun, and a little above his 
eye, he saw a beam of light issuing from the under- 
side of the bottle, which exhibited different colours 
in the same order, and with the same brilliancy, as 
those of the rainbow. On a more attentive obser- 
vation, he found that the solar ray had been refracted 
on entering the bottle, and again at leaving it ; and 
that it had been reflected from the concave part, so 
as to fall upon the eye, tinged with different colours ; 
but why those colours appeared, and why invariably 
in a certain order, neither he, nor any philosopher 
who succeeded him, could explain, till the disco- 
veries of Sir Isaac Newton, on the refrangibility of 
light, solved the mystery. The experiments of De 
Dominis on the rainbow were first published in his 
treatise, '/ De Radiis Visus et Lucis," about a. d. 
1611. It is to be regretted, that the court of Rome, 
which has so often proved itself hostile to the ad- 
vancement of science and truth, interposed its 
authority to check the Archbishop of Spalatro in 
his scientific career ; compelled him first to take 
refuge in England, and subsequently, having enticed 
him back to Rome, shut him up in the castle of 
St. Angelo, where he is supposed to have been 
secretly poisoned, about a. d. 1625. 

320. Snellius, the celebrated Dutch mathema- 
tician, is acknowledged to have first discovered the 
great fundamental law of refraction, after Kepler, 
Tycho Brahe, Des Cartes, and Kircher, with many 
others of inferior name, had in vain attempted 
to ascertain its cause ; and the probable reason of 
his success and of their failure was, that he relied 



chap. 111.3 OPTICS. 425 

wholly on experiments, while the great philosophers 
just enumerated depended in part on d priori rea- 
sonings and hypotheses. By a great variety of 
delicate and accurate experiments, Snellius not only 
proved that light is variously refracted in passing 
through different media, and that in proportion to 
their density ; but also discovered the reciprocal 
relations which the incident and refracted rays bear 
to their vertical or perpendicular line. Des Cartes, 
in some of his later writings, states this principle 
more clearly, by laying it down as a general fact, 
" that the sine of the angle of incidence always 
has the same ratio to the sine of the angle of refrac- 
tion." This is announced as his own discovery ; 
but sufficient evidence exists that Hortensius, a 
friend of Snellius, had, in his public lectures on 
optics, announced and explained this law of refrac- 
tion before the date of Des Cartes' treatise on 
" Dioptrics," and had publicly ascribed it to his 
illustrious friend. 

321. Scheiner, who flourished towards the close 
of the sixteenth century, directed his optical re- 
searches chiefly to the laws of vision, by analyzing 
the eye, discovering the humours and teguments 
of which it is composed, and observing the manner 
in which they cooperate to produce the result. 
Among other curious optical discoveries, attributed 
to this accurate experimentalist, are those of the 
contraction and dilatation of the pupil of the eye, as 
the object is nearer or further distant, or as the 
light falling upon it is more or less vivid ; the reason 
why objects appear single, though seen with two 



426 optics. [[part iv. 

eyes; and the causes of some familiar optical illu- 
sions, which every one must have perceived, but 
which philosophy alone can explain. The same 
remarks will apply to those parts of Des Cartes' 
writings, which relate to the theory of vision, and 
are of most value, because resulting from experi- 
ment rather than theory. But on other questions 
connected with the science of optics, particularly 
those which relate to the nature and properties of 
light, this great philosopher was misled partly by 
his attachment to ancient systems, but chiefly by 
his preconceived notions of a 'plenum throughout 
the universe. On the ground of this false hypothesis, 
(for such it has been fully proved to be,) he main- 
tained the instantaneous transmission of light from 
the remotest objects to the eye of the observer, — a 
doctrine, the fallacy of which was demonstrated by 
Roemer's discovery of the velocity of light alluded to 
in a former section. ( § 284.) 

322. To include, in the present section, all the 
most important discoveries which relate to dioptrics, 
though it lead us somewhat beyond the date of 
the first discovery of the telescope, it may be stated 
in this place, that at the commencement of the seven- 
teenth century, some valuable experiments were 
made at Rome by Kircher on the doctrine of colours, 
and the manner in which they are produced by 
rays falling at different angles ; but ingenious as 
they were, and some approaching towards the truth, 
they were necessarily erroneous, since the great 
cause of the phenomena of colours still remained 
unknown. 



CHAP. III.] OPTICS. 427 



Section II. 

HISTORY OF OPTICS CONTINUED, 

From A. D. 1600 to 1650. 

323. The train of optical discoveries alluded to 
in the last section, belong not exclusively to the 
sixteenth century, nor were they all made prior to 
the period about to be reviewed. The chronological 
order of scientific discoveries has been somewhat 
inverted, that the history of the telescope and 
microscope, two of the most important inventions 
of modern science, might be presented in a more 
entire and connected form. The sera of these in- 
ventions is of the utmost importance in the history 
of mankind, since they are amongst the most re- 
markable in themselves, and most beneficial in their 
consequences, of all the productions of human genius. 
They have enlarged the boundaries of human 
vision to a degree which would previously have been 
deemed incredible ; they have subjected to philoso- 
phical investigation the minutest as well as the most 
stupendous of natural objects ; or, to employ the 
language of a distinguished modern writer, "by 
these discoveries, man has approached the nearest 
to the construction of a new organ of sense." Not 
curiosity alone, but a sense of justice to the bene- 
factors of their species, naturally prompts the in- 
quiry to which the present section is intended to 
furnish a brief reply, " to whom are we indebted for 
these inventions, and through what successive stages 



428 optics. [[part iv. 

of improvement did they pass, in the earlier period 
of their history ?" 

324. It has often occurred, that some of the 
happiest discoveries of the human mind are attri- 
butable to accident rather than design ; and that 
the first conception was so vague and imperfect as 
to render it difficult to trace out its true origin. 
This remark will apply to the invention of the 
telescope in a greater degree, perhaps, than to any 
other of equal magnitude. The date of this im- 
portant discovery is clearly ascertained to have been 
the commencement of the seventeenth century ; but 
the original inventor is still a question of uncertainty. 
The celebrated astronomer Galileo, who first pointed 
the telescope to the heavens, and discovered there 
what the eye of man had never before seen, has been 
considered by some its inventor ; and if, by the term 
invention, is meant, not the mere mechanical con- 
struction of the instrument, but the development 
of its scientific properties and use, the honour un- 
questionably belongs to Galileo. But it may be 
gathered from the writings of this philosopher, that 
the first intimation of such a discovery having been 
made in a distant part of Europe, and by some ob- 
scure mechanic, was given him by a learned friend ; 
which led him to apply his mathematical science 
and mechanic skill to the construction of a similar 
instrument. The use of lenses, to assist the sight 
and magnify the objects of vision, was not wholly 
unknown to the ancients. It is manifest, from the 
Opus Majus, that Roger Bacon had employed con- 
vex lenses of different powers for this purpose. But 



CHAP. III.] OPTICS. 429 

at length, some humble individual, " alike to for- 
tune and to fame unknown," hit upon the idea of 
looking through two of these glasses at once— the 
one convex, and the other concave — fixed at either 
extremity of a tube ; and thus constructed the first 
rude and imperfect telescope. Des Cartes, who 
flourished at the time of this noble discovery, and 
took some pains to investigate its origin, attributes 
it to Metius, an optician, resident at Alcmaer, in 
Holland; but the more prevalent opinion is, that 
Zechariah Jans, or Jansen, an ingenious but humble 
mechanic of Middleburgh, in Zealand, was the 
original inventor of this important instrument. 
Such at least is the statement of Borellus, who, 
within a few years from the date of the discovery, 
seems to have investigated the question with great 
care and impartiality , # 

325. Galileo's telescope consisted but of two 
lenses — a convex and a concave-— the former of which 
being fixed at the end of the telescope, caused the 
parallel rays of light falling upon it to converge 
towards a focus ; but before they arrived at the 
point of convergence, the concave lens was inter- 
posed, by which their direction was changed, and 
they again became parallel ; thus presenting a dis- 
tinct but enlarged image of the object at the focus of 
parallel rays, at which point the eye of the observer 

* For a detailed account of the origin of the telescope, and 
discussion of the respective claims of Metius, Jans, Lipper- 
stein, and others ; — refer to Montucla's or Bossut's History of 
Mathematics — Smith and Priestley "on Optics" — or to the 
article Optics in Encyc. Britt. 



430 optics. [part iv. 

must be placed. All that was effected, therefore, 
by this telescope was, to exhibit the object under a 
much larger angle than its ordinary or natural ap- 
pearance. This telescope did not exhibit objects in 
an inverted position, because the rays of light, by 
this simple but powerful instrument, cross each other 
only at one point. One great inconvenience, how- 
ever, attended this instrument; the field of vision 
was extremely limited, and that in proportion to the 
increase of its magnifying powers ; an inconvenience 
which has been felt so strongly by modern astrono- 
mers, that they have frequently expressed their 
surprise at the numerous and wonderful discoveries 
Galileo was enabled to make by its means. 

326, The next stage of improvement in the 
history of the telescope quickly followed its dis- 
covery, which was suggested, but not executed, by 
the great Kepler, in honour of whom it is usually 
designated, the astronomical, or Kepler's telescope. 
It chiefly differs from that of Galileo, by being con- 
structed with two convex lenses, instead of a convex 
and concave ; the effect of which is, that objects 
are inverted, but they are also greatly magnified, 
they are more distinctly seen, and the field of vision 
is enlarged. 

Kepler was either not aware of the importance 
of the improvement which he had suggested, or his 
attention was drawn from it to other investigations. 
Certain it is, that Scheiner, availing himself of the 
instructions given by Kepler, after the death of that 
great philosopher, constructed the first astronomical 
telescope, so called because of its peculiar adaptation 



CHAP. 111.3 OPTICS. 431 

to the survey of the heavenly bodies. But a yet 
more valuable service was rendered by Kepler with 
reference to the telescope. It was he who first ex- 
plained the rationale of this important instrument, 
by developing the power of different lenses, and the 
general laws of parallel, converging and diverging 
rays of light ; together with the effects produced by 
changing the position or increasing the number of 
magnifying glasses. 

327. Hitherto the only species of telescopes 
which had been invented, was the dioptric, or that 
which depended alone on the refrangibility of light. 
In these, several improvements of minor import- 
ance were made at different periods, particularly by 
Scheiner, Huygens, Rheita, Campani, and Hooke. 
But at length a more important improvement was 
given to this instrument, by employing the com- 
bined influence of refraction and reflection. The 
first idea of a reflecting telescope is attributed to 
James Gregory, of Aberdeen, whom Playfair charac- 
terises as " a profound and inventive geometer, who 
wholly devoted himself to the study of optics. In 
a celebrated treatise, entitled c Optica Promota, 9 
this scientific philosopher discussed many questions 
relative to the force of lenses of various kinds; 
suggested valuable hints respecting the means of 
correcting the indistinctness of vision generally com- 
plained of in refracting telescopes, and described 
the reflecting telescope recently invented by himself. 
He was led to this invention, in consequence of the 
great inconvenience found in the employment of 
spherical lenses, and the extreme difficulty of freeing 



432 OPTICS. |>ART IV* 

them in so great a degree from the prismatic colours, 
as to discern objects distinctly and closely. He 
determined, therefore, to construct a telescope into 
which metallic specula, or highly polished mirrors, 
should be introduced instead of lenses. This con- 
trivance was peculiarly happy, not only as in itself 
valuable, (since it obviated the two principal objec- 
tions to refracting telescopes, namely, their great 
length, and their indistinctness of vision,) but still 
more as having led to the most important invention 
of the reflecting telescope by the illustrious Sir 
Isaac Newton. 

328. The invention of the microscope quickly 
followed that of the telescope — an instrument, which 
(to adopt the emphatic language of Professor Play- 
fair on the subject) " discovers an immensity on the 
one side of man — scarcely less wonderful than that 
which the telescope discovers on the other. The ex- 
tension and divisibility of matter are thus rendered to 
the natural philosopher almost as unlimited as the ex- 
tension and durability of space are to the geometer.*" 

In this, as in the former case, the question of 
origination has been contested ; some ascribing the 
invention to Galileo ; some to Jansen and his son, the 
inventors of the telescope ; and some to Cornelius 
Dobrell, a native of Alcmaer. Without presuming 
to settle this dispute, it will be sufficient to remark, 
that the true date of the invention is about a. d. 
1618 ; and that the instrument was first constructed 
in the simplest manner. It consisted but of a very 

* Vide Playfair's Second Diss, ut sup. p. 120. 



CHAP. 111.3 OPTICS. 433 

convex lens, interposed between the eye and the 
object; the effect of which is, by shortening the 
focus, to exhibit the object under a greater angle, 
and thus proportionably to increase its apparent 
diameter. The first great improvement suggested 
in this instrument, was that of the compound or 
double miscroscope, which corresponds with the 
astronomical telescope, since it consists of two convex 
lenses, an object and an eye glass ; the former of 
which magnifies the object, and the latter brings it 
nearer to the eye. The precise aera, and the in- 
ventor of this improvement of the microscope, are 
not certainly known ; though it is ascertained to 
have quickly followed the original discovery. Many 
valuable experiments in physical science were made, 
by means of this admirable instrument, soon after 
its invention, by the indefatigable Huygens, the 
excellent Boyle, and, above all, the celebrated Leu- 
wenhoek, whose microscopical discoveries were so 
numerous and great as almost to exceed credibility. 



Sect. III. 

HISTORY OF OPTICS CONTINUED, 

From A. D. 1650 to 1700. 

329. The facilities afforded to scientific men em- 
ployed in optical researches, by the ever-memorable 
inventions of the telescope and microscope, were so 
great, that almost every distinguished philosopher of 
that age was induced to direct his attention to this 
interesting department of science. Scarcely is there 

F F 



434 optics. [part iv. 

an individual, whose name has been introduced in 
connexion with other divisions of natural philosophy, 
who might not also be included among those who 
contributed, in a greater or less degree, to the ad- 
vancement of optical science. It would be easy to 
multiply names and facts in proof of this assertion ; 
but, as in former portions of this work, so especially 
in the present, it is requisite to proceed on the prin- 
ciple of selection. 

330. The indefatigable Huygens first claims at- 
tention, who entered with all the ardour of youth 
into this study, happily combining a high degree 
of scientific with practical knowledge. His trea- 
tise on X Dioptrics," of which Newton speaks 
in terms of high commendation, was among the 
earliest productions of his pen. In this work 
he not only develops the principles of optics in 
general, but applies those principles to practical pur- 
poses, by investigating the causes of the indistinct- 
ness of refracting telescopes, and suggesting rules 
for their improved construction, which were the 
results of his own experience ; for he had himself 
polished lenses of high magnifying powers and ex- 
traordinary clearness of vision. In 1678, he com- 
municated to the Academy of Sciences, at Paris, a 
valuable treatise on " the Nature and Properties of 
Light, the Laws of Refraction and Reflection," and 
many other topics connected with the science of 
optics. These celebrated works were succeeded, 
at different periods, by highly scientific papers on 
similar subjects ; particularly on the phenomena of 
coronae, parhelia, and paraselenes ; several of which 



CHAP. III.] OPTICS. 435 

are minutely described from his own attentive obser- 
vation, and their causes satisfactorily explained. 

331. Grimaldi, a distinguished member of the 
Academy Del Cimento, who flourished about the 
middle of the seventeenth century, is chiefly cele- 
brated, in connexion with optical science, by his 
discovery of a property of light which had escaped 
the observation of all previous philosophers ; to 
which was primarily given the name of diffraction, 
but which, since the time of Newton, has generally 
been designated the inflection of light. This term 
expresses that motion of rays of light which is per- 
ceived when they approach within a small distance 
of another body, and which, instead of proceeding, 
according to the laws of optics, in a right line, are 
deflected, or caused to bend either towards or from 
the object, thus producing a kind of imperfect 
reflection or refraction. The first public announce- 
ment of this discovery was made by Grimaldi, a. d. 
1666, in a treatise on " Light, Colours, and the 
Rainbow." About six years after, the same discovery 
was communicated to the Royal Society, by Dr. 
Hookc, as the result of his own observations, and 
apparently without any consciousness of its having 
been previously known. In the papers of this great 
astronomer on the subject, published in the " Philo- 
sophical Transactions" of that period, a circumstan- 
tial account is given of the phenomenon itself, and 
the process by which he was led to the discovery. 
The observations, however, of Grimaldi, are incom- 
parably more correct and philosophical ; and are of 
themselves sufficient to confer lustre on the name 

ff2 



436 optics. £fart iv. 

and memory of their inventor. In other respects, 
it is readily admitted, that Hooke contributed in a 
high degree to the advancement of optical science — 
particularly by his experiments on refracted and re- 
flected light — his improvement of the telescope — 
his elucidation of the theory of vision, and his de- 
velopment of the doctrine of colours, as far as it was 
then understood. 

332. The organ of sight is a faculty so myste- 
rious, and yet so important, that it must ever form 
an interesting object of research to scientific men. 
Many were the individuals, who vied with each other 
in their endeavours to explain the phenomena of 
vision, at the period to which the present section 
refers. Among these may be enumerated, of our 
own countrymen, Boyle and Barrow ; and among 
foreign philosophers, De la Hire, Mariotte, and 
Leibnitz. 

(1.) The pious and excellent Boyle, whose life 
was devoted to the advancement of experimental 
philosophy in all its several branches, directed his 
chief attention to that division of optical science, 
which relates to colours, their principles and causes, 
and the constitution of bodies on which they 
depend. The results of his elaborate investigations 
on this subject are given in one of his earliest pro- 
ductions, entitled, " Experiments and Observations 
on Colours," published about a. d. 1663. 

(2.) Dr. Isaac Barrow, who must be classed with 
the most profound philosophers of modern times, 
investigated the laws of refraction, as applied to 
the phenomena of vision. This subject formed a 



CHAP, in.] OPTICS. 437 

principal and most valuable part of his " optical 
lectures/' first delivered in the university of Cam- 
bridge, and subsequently published, about a. d. 
1674, in which profound mathematical science was 
combined with a high degree of practical and ex- 
perimental knowledge. 

(3.) M. De la Hire, a distinguished French phi- 
losopher, who flourished about the same period, 
pursued a similar train of investigation. In con- 
junction with his fellow-countryman, Mariotte, he 
took an active part in the controversy, which was 
then carried on respecting the seat of vision, and the 
manner in which external objects become visible. 
The questions chiefly related to the part of the eye 
on which the image is impressed — the effect pro- 
duced by rays of light on the optic nerve — and the 
mysterious nexus between impressions made on the 
organ of sight, and the internal perception of the 
object. On all these and many other subjects con- 
nected with the phenomena of vision, this acute 
observer of nature communicated much valuable 
information — the result, not of theory, but of patient 
and accurate experiment. 

(4.) Mariotte, who was the principal cause of 
exciting the controversy alluded to above, respecting 
the seat of vision, was the first who demonstrated, 
what had been conjectured by Des Cartes and others, 
that objects are seen, not in the crystalline humour 
of the eye, but through its medium ; and that the 
true seat of vision is to be sought in the optic nerve 
attached to the choroidal membrane, or, as others 
maintained, to the retina, 



438 OPTICS. £PART IVw 

(5.) Leibnitz was too ardently devoted to science 
to permit, that investigations so curious and pro- 
found should be carried on, without directing to 
them the energies of his powerful mind. Several 
valuable papers were published by him in the Leipsic 
Transactions for 1682, on the principles of " Optics, 
Catoptrics, and Dioptrics ;" in which much light is 
thrown on the previously established laws of refrac- 
tion and reflection, and many valuable additions 
were made to the science. All these, however, and 
every other optical discovery of this Augustan age 
of science, were completely eclipsed by the brilliancy 
of the development made by our illustrious fellow- 
countryman, Sir Isaac Newton, a summary of which 
will be presented in the next section. 



Sect. IV. 

ON THE OPTICAL DISCOVERIES OF SIR ISAAC NEWTON. 

333. Another highly interesting train of physical 
discoveries remains to be noticed; which are not 
less surprising than those to which we have alluded 
in former sections, and in connexion with other 
departments of philosophy. The state of science 
in general, and especially of optical science, when 
Newton commenced his philosophical career, was 
such as could not fail to enkindle his enthusiasm, 
and stimulate to patient and persevering exertion. 
The properties of light, and the theory of vision, had 



CHAP. Ill/] OPTICS. 439 

been in part developed — the laws of reflection and 
refraction had been demonstrated, both scientifically 
and practically — a new and almost boundless field of 
science had been laid open, by means of convex and 
concave lenses variously combined — but yet there 
remained much to be investigated and know r n. The 
phenomena were familiar to men of science, but 
their causes were as yet unknown. " What is the 
true nature of that transparent fluid, called light — 
and why, under certain circumstances, is it variously 
refracted or reflected?" — these, with many similar 
inquiries, which would naturally suggest them- 
selves to the mind of a philosophical observer of 
nature, were subjects still veiled in mystery and 
darkness ; till Newton arose, who, instead of theo- 
rizing and speculating on the subject, had recourse 
to the most patient, minute, and oft-repeated ex- 
periments, until he at length succeeded " in un- 
twisting the splendid robe of day." 

334. Newton was little more than twenty-three 
years of age when he commenced these profound 
researches into the nature and properties of light, 
which led to a long train of curious and sublime 
discoveries. It is probable that his attention was 
first directed to this subject by the celebrated work 
of Huygens, alluded to in the last section ; in which 
that great practical philosopher had developed a 
new theory of light, that appeared to him satisfac- 
torily to explain the phenomena and laws of 
refraction and reflection. According to Huygens, 
" Light consists in certain undulations, communi- 
cated by luminous bodies to the ethereal fluid which 



440 OPTICS. £part IV* 

fills all space. This fluid is composed of the most 
subtile matter, is highly elastic, and the undulations 
are propagated through it with great velocity in 
spherical superficies proceeding from a centre." The 
treatise in which this ingenious theory was developed 
and defended, appears to have first attracted the 
attention of Sir Isaac Newton to optical researches. 
A circumstance, apparently accidental, greatly facili- 
tated his investigations. When trying the effect 
of lenses of different forms, with the hope of im- 
proving the telescope, by rendering the field of 
vision more distinct, he hit upon the prism ; and his 
sagacious mind quickly perceived that the instru- 
ment was well adapted to the investigation of the 
causes of the primary colours. These he discovered 
and fully demonstrated to be produced by the dif- 
ferent refrangibility of different rays of light ; those 
which are least refrangible producing the darker 
and stronger colours, such as red, orange, and 
yellow ; while those which are most easily refracted, 
being weaker rays, produce the fainter colours of 
violet, blue, &c. Not satisfied with the experimental 
proof of this fact, obtained by an attentive observa- 
tion of actual phenomena, this profound philosopher 
proceeded to the decomposition and re-union of solar 
rays under all possible circumstances, in order to 
shew the precise quantum of the refrangibility of 
each, and the order in which they are severally 
combined. Applying these facts to the rainbow, 
he gathered thence the most convincing demonstra- 
tions of his hypothesis, relative to the cause of the 
prismatic colours. To him belongs the honour of 



CHAP. Ill/] OPTICS. Ml 

having proved beyond all doubt, that the Iris is but 
a magnificent prism produced by natural causes ; 
since, in comparing its colours with those exhibited 
by the prism, it was found that they are precisely 
the same, and in the same order. " Newton 
showed," says Playfair, " the truth of his principles 
by calculating the extent of the arch described in 
the heavens — the breadth of the coloured bow — the 
position of the secondary bow — its distance from the 
primary — and by explaining the inversion of colours. 
There is not perhaps in the whole range of science, 
any instance of happier application of theory, or 
one in which the mind rests with fuller confidence."* 
335. There remained, however, another interest- 
ing object of investigation, with reference to the 
doctrine of colours, which did not escape the pene- 
tration of Newton. It had been proved, that what 
might appear to be a single solar ray, was, in 
reality, a pencil of rays, capable of being decom- 
posed by the prism, and exhibiting different colours ; 
but it was not yet ascertained why objects appeared 
uniformly of the same colour ; one red, a second 
blue, and a third green, &c. This was shewn, by 
the experiments of our great philosopher, to be 
occasioned by the greater disposition of a natural 
substance to reflect rays of one colour, than those 
of another which fall upon it. Thus the far greater 
number of leaves have a tendency to absorb the red, 
yellow, or blue rays, and to reflect the green ; for 
which reason, they exhibit the latter colour to the 

* Playfair's Second Diss. p. 4i>. 



442 optics. [[part iv. 

eye of the observer. On investigating the subject 
more deeply, he perceived the combined influence of 
the two great properties of light, reflection and 
refraction, in the production of the phenomena of 
colours. Refraction decomposes the solar ray, and 
separates those which are less from others which are 
more refrangible ; while the laws of reflection de- 
termine the manner in which they will severally fall 
on the eye, and, consequently, what colour an ob- 
ject will assume in any given position. The most 
curious, but perhaps the most vulnerable part of 
Newton's theory on this question, relates to what he 
terms f fits of easy transmission or reflection ; a 
theory which, whether completely satisfactory or 
not, certainly solves many otherwise inexplicable 
phenomena. 

336. The next important step in this series of 
optical discoveries, relates to the manner in which 
light is propagated, and the inferences deduced from 
its mode of transmission, serving to illustrate more 
fully its nature and properties. The fact was 
established, by innumerable experiments, that light 
is an emanation of particles inconceivably subtile 
and minute, moving in right lines with incredible 
velocity, and attracted by the particles of trans- 
parent bodies. Applying the principles of dyna- 
mics (as far as they relate to the laws of motion) to 
this theory, he found that they mutually illustrated 
and established each other. The doctrine of vibra- 
tions, according to the Cartesian hypothesis, and 
that of undulations, maintained by Huygens, was 
effectually exploded ; and demonstrative evidence 



CHAP. 111.3 OPTICS. 443 

was given, that rays of light, whether descending 
perpendicularly, obliquely, or in any other direction, 
were subjected to all the laws common to falling 
bodies under such circumstances. From this fact 
many important consequences were deduced. A 
new light was poured on scientific philosophy. 
Chemists were furnished with new data on which 
to proceed in their analyses, and by which they may 
be led on to further discoveries. When these re- 
sults of patient and profound investigation into the 
nature of light, and the manner in which it is pro- 
pagated, were communicated to the scientific world 
through the medium of the " Philosophical Trans- 
actions," the utmost astonishment was excited ; some 
doubted their truth ; others denied the consequences 
deduced from them; but all were enthusiastic in 
their admiration of the young English philosopher, 
whose patience of research was equal to the fertility 
of his invention and the depth of his science. 

337. Among the most useful results of Newton's 
optical experiments on light, the improvement of 
the telescope, which was by this means suggested 
to his sagacious mind, was not the least. It had 
long been found that the indistinctness with which 
objects were seen through refracting telescopes of 
high magnifying powers, operated as a great check 
to astronomical discoveries. The most eminent 
mechanicians of Europe, (among whom were Eus- 
tachio Divini of Rome, and Campani of Bologna,) 
had exerted their utmost skill to remedy this in- 
convenience with little success. They had enlarged 
the diameter of their lenses, and heightened their 



444 optics. [[part iv. 

polish, and tried various kinds of curves ; but still 
the difficulty remained to be overcome. The fact 
was, none of the philosophers who preceded Newton 
had ascertained the true cause of the indistinctness 
complained of, and of course were not likely to sug- 
gest a remedy. But Sir Isaac Newton's discoveries, 
with respect to the refrangibility of light and the 
prismatic colours, at once solved the mystery. 
Rightly judging that the principal cause of the 
evil was the unequal refrangibility of the compo- 
nent parts of the solar rays, he concluded, that the 
object desired might be more easily obtained by 
reflection than by refraction. To verify this 
conjecture, he polished with his own hand the 
first metallic speculum, and constructed a reflecting 
telescope, the utility of which seems to have far 
exceeded his expectations. This important instru- 
ment was completed in 1671 ; and in the following 
year, a letter addressed to Oldenburg, the Secretary 
of the Royal Society, appears in the Philosophical 
Transactions, communicating the first intelligence of 
the success of his experiments, and giving an accu- 
rate description of his new optical machine. This 
reflecting telescope of Sir Isaac Newton differs so 
essentially from those previously alluded to, as 
constructed by James Gregory, and improved by 
Dr. Hooke, that it may justly be accounted a new 
and original invention. 

338. The last in this unparalleled series of 
brilliant discoveries, which it is requisite distinctly 
to notice, relates to the experiments of this profound 
philosopher on the inflection or reflection of light. 



CHAP. Ill/] OPTICS. 445 

The original discovery of this property of light had 
been made a few years before by Grimaldi (§ 331.) ; 
it appears to have been re-discovered, about six 
years after, by Hooke ; but it was not understood, 
it was not clearly defined — it can scarcely be said 
to have been proved to exist — till the various and 
minute experiments of Newton placed it beyond 
doubt, and fully ascertained the cause of the phe- 
nomenon. From this, as from a thousand other 
sources, were drawn additional proofs of the great law 
of gravitation. Towards the close of his admirable 
work on optics, a series of valuable hints were sub- 
mitted to the learned world in the form of queries, 
either because they had not yet been sufficiently 
verified by experiment, or because they were merely 
the conjectures of his penetrating mind : but to 
intellects like those of Bacon, Newton, and a few 
other highly gifted individuals, conjectures and 
anticipations almost partake of the character of 
predicted discoveries. Each revolving year, and 
every additional fact, have served but to verify the 
truth of many of these conjectures, and heighten 
our admiration of the profound genius which gave 
them birth.* 



* Many valuable papers, containing full information of these 
stupendous discoveries, appear in a scattered form in the earlier 
volumes of the Philosophical Transactions ; part of these have 
been subsequently collected and published among his philo- 
sophical works. Besides which, he wrote on the subject 
" Lectiones Opticae," or Lectures on Optics, delivered at Cam- 
bridge, and a treatise on Optics, in three books. 



446 EXPERIMENTAL SCIENCE. [PART IV. 



Section V. 

SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF EXPERIMENTAL SCIENCE 
DURING THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 

339. The term experimental philosophy, may be 
applied in its extended signification to all the de- 
partments of physical science, as far as they depend 
on observation and experience. Few of the memo- 
rable discoveries in natural philosophy, which have 
been noticed in the preceding sections, could have 
been made without the aid of patient analysis and 
unwearied diligence of research. Galileo, Huygens, 
Leibnitz, and Newton, may therefore be justly 
accounted experimental, as well as scientific philo- 
sophers ; nor is it less requisite to adhere strictly 
to this mode of investigation in astronomical, me- 
chanical, or optical researches, than in those which 
relate to the constitution and transmutation of 
material substances. But at present, the phrase 
experimental science is used in a restricted sense, to 
denote those branches of natural philosophy which 
wholly depend on experimental proofs, and the evi- 
dence of facts ; those which investigate the elementary 
principles of bodies, and their mutual agencies ; those 
which develop the changes of which they are sus- 
ceptible, the new properties they acquire, and the 
various phenomena they exhibit, in different states 
of combination or solution. These sciences have 
greatly multiplied in modern times, or rather 
have been subdivided, as practical knowledge has 



GHAP, III.]] EXPERIMENTAL SCIENCE. 447 

increased ; but at the period to which the present 
retrospect refers, none were known but chemistry 
and electricity ; and these were as yet but in their 
infancy, compared with the vigour and expansion to 
which they have subsequently attained. 

340. In a former part of this work, a transient 
allusion was made to the probable origin of chemical 
science among the Egyptians. (§ 53.) The inde- 
fatigable labours of the Arabian and European 
alchemists to procure the elixir of life, or to produce 
the philosophers stone, have also been noticed. 
(§ 212, 226.) But these visionary pursuits can 
scarcely deserve the name of experimental science. 
Some useful discoveries were made, it is true, by 
a kind of felicitous accident, and some inconsiderable 
advances in practical knowledge resulted from them. 
But if this absurd mode of philosophizing had con- 
tinued to the present day ;— if men, pretending to 
science, had still endeavoured to controul, rather 
than investigate nature ; to establish facts by hy- 
potheses, instead of establishing hypotheses by facts ; 
to subjugate the phasnomena of nature to their theo- 
ries, instead of deducing their theories from physical 
phenomena; — science had still remained stationary, 
nor should we have witnessed any of those bold and 
rapid flights which have been subsequently taken. 
To the profound and penetrating genius of the 
illustrious Bacon, it is attributed that the illusions 
of former ages were effectually scattered, and a flood 
of light was poured on even the most mysterious 
operations of nature. To him belongs the distin- 
guished honour of having thrown down the bulwarks 



448 EXPERIMENTAL SCIENCE. [PART IV. 

of ignorance and error; and pointed out the true 
path of science to all succeeding generations. 

341. After the death of Lord Bacon, many of the 
philosophers of Europe, pursuing the track which he 
had distinctly pointed out in his " Instauration of the 
Sciences," entered with zeal and industry upon a 
course of experimental inquiry, the results of which 
were extremely important. Among those of our 
own countrymen, who thus distinguished themselves 
in the chemical department, were Boyle, Hooke, 
Newton, Mayow, and Hales; of the continental phi- 
losophers, the most successful in their experimental 
researches were, Glauber, of Amsterdam; Brandt, 
of Berlin ; the Elder Lemery, of Paris ; Beccher, of 
Spires ; Ernest Stahl, of Anspach ; and Boerhaave, 
of Leyden. The philosophical writings of Boyle 
afford sufficient evidence of the industry and per- 
severance with which he investigated natural phe- 
nomena ; but it has been justly remarked by a 
modern scientific writer, that his merit consists 
rather " in the indirect benefits conferred on 
science, by enkindling the zeal and directing the 
inquiries of others, than in the discoveries ac- 
tually made by himself. Hooke owes much of his 
celebrity and success, as an experimentalist, to the 
patronage of his noble friend and coadjutor, who first 
brought him into public notice, and furnished him 
with the means of pursuing his physical researches. 
The results of their united labours in pneumatic 
chemistry, and other departments of the science, are 
contained in two treatises published by Dr. Hooke, 
the first entitled, Micrographia, which appeared 



CHAP. III.] OPTICS. 449 

in 1664, and the latter Lampas, printed in 1677. 
In these scientific works, many new and important 
experiments were announced, and not a few of the 
discoveries of future years were anticipated and 
partly developed. Though the mighty genius of 
Newton was chiefly applied to the mechanical ope- 
rations of nature, he was not regardless of its 
internal phenomena. " To him," says a modern 
historian, u chemistry is indebted for the first cor- 
rect views respecting the nature of combination ; 
a subject which had little engaged the attention of 
the more sensible experimentalists of the preceding 
periods, and which was formerly attributed to the 
occult qualities of the Aristotelians, and afterwards 
to the mechanical forms of the particles of bodies." 
From this science, as well as from all the other 
branches of philosophy, this profound investigator 
of nature gathered proofs of the great law of attrac- 
tion ; for, to the same principle which puts in 
motion the vast machine of the universe, the chemi- 
cal affinities and elective attractions are also to be 
attributed.* 

342. The distinguished individuals alluded to in 
the last paragraph, were not chiefly indebted to 
chemical science for the posthumous fame they 
have enjoyed. They excelled, in many other depart- 
ments of physical science, far more than in that of 
chemistry. But the practical philosophers about 
to be mentioned, were almost exclusively devoted to 
this species of physical investigations, and are only 

* Vide Brande's Diss, on the Progress of Chemical Philoso« 
phy, ap. Ency. Britt. N. Supp. Vol. III. 

G G 



450 optics. [part iv. 

known to posterity in the character of theoretic or 
experimental chemists. Adhering still to Britain, 
we may first mention John Mayow, a native of 
Cornwall, who flourished about the middle of the 
seventeenth century, and was the author of several 
valuable chemical tracts, which continue to be highly 
esteemed. They principally treat of the nature of 
the atmosphere, the influence of fermentation on 
vegetable and animal substances, the cause of com- 
bustion, and the nitro-aerial spirit, with which the 
author conceived the atmosphere to be impregnated. 
a The entire collection of Mayow's tracts, published 
at Oxford, in 1674, relate to a great variety of 
chemical, physiological, and medical subjects, and 
abound in traits of original and inventive genius." 
They furnish the prototype of many modern dis- 
coveries, which have conferred great and lasting 
renown upon succeeding experimentalists. 

Next in the order of time, among the English 
chemists, occurs Dr. Stephen Hales, a celebrated 
philosopher and divine, who flourished at the close 
of the seventeenth, and beginning of the eighteenth 
centuries. The attention of this great naturalist was 
principally directed to the nature and properties of 
air, in all its various states of combination, and the 
effects produced by different gases on animal, vege- 
table, or mineral substances. On this account he 
has been generally designated, the founder of pneu- 
matic cliemistry. " In perusing his Essays," says 
Brande, " we frequently find him on the verge of 
those splendid discoveries which fell to the lot of 
his fellow-labourers and successors ; but the erro- 



CHAP. III.]] OPTICS. 451 

neous nature of his preconceived opinions induced 
him to take for granted that which experiment 
should have determined, and to rest satisfied with 
results which, had they been followed up, would 
have inevitably led to the most important and novel 
facts. His experiments do credit to his industry ; 
but his conclusions betray feebleness of judgment."* 

343. Among many experimental philosophers, 
who successfully pursued similar trains of physical 
investigation, in various parts of Europe, may be 
enumerated : 

(1.) Glauber of Amsterdam, whose chemical 
works were first published at Frankfort in 1658, 
and contain an immense variety of curious and in- 
teresting facts. When the date of these publications, 
and the infant state of the science are considered, it 
cannot fail to excite surprise that so many curious 
discoveries should have been made so early ; and 
that his experimental science should have taken so 
wide a range. 

(2.) Brandt of Berlin, who discovered the inflam- 
mable substance, since denominated phosphorus, 
and described its properties, in several chemical 
tracts which appeared about a. d. 1669. 

(3.) Lemery the elder, who delivered public lec- 
tures on chemistry at Paris, about a. d. 1674, with 
great applause, and whose celebrity chiefly rests on 
the attractive attire with which he invested his 
favourite science, in so much that his lectures, when 



* Vide Brande's Diss, ut sup. p. 26. 
G G 2 



452 OPTICS. £part IV. 

published, were sought aud read with the utmost 
avidity. 

(4.) Beccher of Spires, a man of original genius 
and prodigious labour, of which his voluminous 
writings bear ample testimony. His principal and 
most curious works are entitled, Physica Subter- 
ranea, in which he treats of the original creation of 
matter, and the transition and interchange of the 
elements ; and (Edipus Chemicus, or chemical insti- 
tutions, which contains the history of the chemical 
elements, as far as they had then been ascertained, 
and the processes of the laboratory with regard to 
each. 

(5.) Ernest Stahl of Anspach, in Franconia, 
flourished at the close of the seventeenth century, 
and is best known as the principal founder of 
the once celebrated, but now exploded system of 
Phlogiston ; a system which rapidly spread through 
Europe, and acquired such universal credence, that 
it was with the greatest reluctance abandoned, even 
after its fallacy was brought to light. The chemical 
opinions of Stahl are chiefly detailed in his " Three 
Hundred Experiments," published at Berlin, a. d. 
1731, and his " Fundamenta Chymiae," which ap- 
peared soon after. 

(6.) It is only requisite further to mention the 
celebrated Boerhaave, who, though born in the seven- 
teenth century, did not acquire fame as an experi- 
mental philosopher, till the commencement of the 
eighteenth. At that time he was professor of 
chemistry, botany, and physic, in the university of 



chap. in/] OPTICS. 453 

Leyden, on all which sciences he delivered public 
lectures, which were subsequently published, under 
the title of " Elements of Chemistry ;" a work which 
has acquired great celebrity, and been translated 
from the original Latin into almost all the languages 
of Europe. 

344. Having glanced at the progress of chemical 
science, and the individuals, both at home and 
abroad, who chiefly contributed to its advancement, 
it will be proper to advert for a moment to a kindred 
branch of experimental science, which began about 
the same period to attract attention — that of Elec- 
tricity. This belongs exclusively to modern times ; 
for, although some of the ancients observed the 
attracting power of amber, and occasionally allude 
to it in their writings as an occult quality of 
nature,* they had no conception of the nature or 
extent of electric attraction in general; and still 
less, of the remarkable phenomena resulting from 
its operation. The first who made any real advances 
towards the discovery of this science, was Gilbert 
of Colchester, who flourished about a. d. 1600, and 
was honoured with the appointment of physician to 

* Thales of Miletus first mentions it, and conjectured that the 
substance was animated. Theophrastus next alludes to it, about 
a. c. 300, and classes it among native fossils. Pliny, in his 
Natural History, speaks of the attracting quality of amber, 
though he makes no attempt to solve the mystery. Many later 
naturalists have also occasionally noticed this property, and 
described some of its effects, particularly Gassendi, Sir Kenelm 
Digby, and Sir Thomas Brown. — Vide Priestley on Electricity, 
pp. 1, 2. 



454 optics. [[part iv. 

Queen Elizabeth. He was the author of two highly 
philosophical treatises, entitled, " De Mundo nostro 
Sublunari" and " De Magnete" The latter of 
these contains a great variety of electrical experi- 
ments made on different substances. " To him/' 
says Priestley, in his history of this science, " we owe 
a great augmentation of the list of electrical bodies, 
as also of the bodies on which electrics can act ; and 
he has carefully noted several capital circumstances 
relating to the manner of their action, though his 
theory of electricity was very imperfect, as might be 
expected." After enumerating the several sub- 
stances in which Gilbert discovered the property of 
electric attraction; and a sketch of his opinions 
as well as facts, the narrative is thus concluded: — 
" Such were the discoveries of our countryman 
Gilbert, who may justly be called the father of 
modern electricity ; though it be true that he left 
his child in its very infancy." Some inconsiderable 
additions were made to the scientific discoveries of 
Gilbert, by Sir Francis Bacon, the detailed account 
of which will be found in his " Physiological Re- 
mains." The excellent Boyle carried somewhat 
farther these investigations, and made some dis- 
coveries, which may, in the present advanced state 
of the science, appear to be unimportant, but which 
at the time of their discovery were highly ap- 
preciated. 

345. Otto Guericke, the original inventor of the 
air-pump, was enabled, by means of that important 
instrument, eminently to promote the practical 
sciences in general. Many highly ingenious experi- 



CHAP. HI.] OPTICS. 455 

merits were made by him on electrified substances, 
and to him is attributed the first construction of a 
rude and imperfect electrical machine, which was 
nothing but a globe of sulphur mounted on an axis, 
and whirled in a wooden frame, rubbing it at the 
same time with his hand. By this simple contrivance 
he was enabled not only to perform all the experi- 
ments in electricity previously known, but also to 
make many new discoveries. Among the most im- 
portant results of his persevering investigations in 
this department of science was, the demonstration 
of the fact, " that bodies immerged in electric atmo- 
spheres, are themselves electrified, and with an elec- 
tricity opposite to that of the atmosphere." This 
experimental philosopher was also the first to 
discover the luminous appearances exhibited by the 
electric fluid, and the sound produced by electrical 
excitement. 

346. Electricity was among the amusements, 
rather than the serious occupation of our great 
philosopher, Sir Isaac Newton. Nothing that 
partook of the nature of science could be indifferent 
to him, nor was he regardless even of the minutest 
operations of nature. Though accustomed to soar, 
with untired wing, to the loftiest heights of finite 
intelligence, and include within the range of his 
profound investigation the entire mechanism of the 
universe, he did not account it beneath him to 
observe the movements of an electrified feather 
dancing on the table, or the attractive and repellent 
powers of magnetized and electrified substances in 
general. With that modesty for which this great 



456 OPTICS. £part IV. 

philosopher has been so justly and eloquently 
eulogized, he proposed, in the form of queries, 
some valuable suggestions, the correctness of which 
subsequent discoveries have fully established and 
confirmed,* 



Section VI. 

GENERAL REMARKS ON THE PHILOSOPHY OF SIR 
ISAAC NEWTON. 

347. This brief retrospect of the history of 
scientific philosophy will close with the memorable 
discoveries of Sir Isaac Newton, for reasons which 
have been assigned in the Preface to this work. 
But before we proceed to the remaining division, 
in which it is proposed to sketch the history of 
intellectual science from the revival of letters to the 
same period, it will not be irrelevant to introduce 
a few remarks on the general character and dis- 
tinguishing feature of that new and sublime philo- 
sophy, of which he was the acknowledged founder. 
On many accounts, the sera of Newton must be 
accounted the most memorable in the history of 
mankind ; and as such, it cannot be too attentively 
considered. 

348. Many illustrious names occur in the list of 
his contemporaries and coadjutors, of which no 
other proof need be adduced, than to state that 
at the same period flourished Barrow and the 

* Vide Newton's Optics,--- Brande's Diss.— -and Priestley on 
Electricity. 



CHAP. JII.3 PHILOSOPHY OF SIR ISAAC NEWTON. 457 

Bernoullis, Gassendi and Leibnitz, with a long 
train of other distinguished philosophers, who formed, 
by the pre-eminence of their genius and the brilliancy 
of their discoveries, a kind of intellectual galaxy, 
to which no other age can furnish a parallel. Yet 
Newton towers above them all, in the majesty of 
unrivalled genius, and appears like the sun in the 
midst of the celestial luminaries. " When we look 
back," says an eloquent divine and enlightened phi- 
losopher of the present day, " on the days of Newton, 
we annex a kind of mysterious greatness to him, 
who, by the pure force of his understanding, rose 
to such a gigantic elevation above the level of ordinary 
men — and the kings and warriors of other days sink 
into insignificance around him — and he at this mo- 
ment stands forth to the public eye in a prouder 
array of glory than circles the memory of all the 
men of former generations ; and while all the vulgar 
grandeur of other days is now mouldering in forge t- 
fulness, the achievements of our great astronomer 
are still fresh in the veneration of his countrymen, 
and they carry him forward in the stream of time 
with a reputation ever gathering, and the triumphs 
of a distinction that will never die."* 

349. The justly admired writer, from whose 
luminous pages the preceding extract has been 
taken, has sketched with a masterly hand the 
prominent features of the philosophy of Newton, 
and fully shewn that they chiefly consist in a rigid 

* Vide Dr. Chalmers' Discourses on the Christian Revelation 
viewed in Connexion with the Modern Astronomy. Disc. II. p. 60, 



458 PHILOSOPHY OF SIR ISAAC NEWTON. £PART IV. 

and inflexible adherence to evidence, and the utter 
absence of all theory and hypothesis. To this 
our great philosopher owes his most valuable disco- 
veries, and by this he is honourably distinguished 
from the most illustrious of his predecessors and 
contemporaries. Des Cartes and Leibnitz, both of 
whom may justly be classed with the most highly 
gifted of their species, were given to theorize, and 
were not unfrequently betrayed, by their love of 
speculation, into philosophical errors and absurdities. 
The vortices of the former, and the monads of the 
latter, are striking illustrations of this fact. But 
Newton was proof against every such temptation; 
and the mighty fabric of philosophy, reared by him, 
remains unshaken and impregnable, because founded 
on the rock of experimental truth. " It was," adds 
the before-cited author, " the property of his mind, 
that it kept a tenacious hold of every position which 
had proof to substantiate it; but it forms a pro- 
perty equally characteristic, and which, in fact, gives 
its leading peculiarity to the whole spirit and style 
of his investigations, that he put a most determined 
exclusion on every one position that was destitute of 
such proof. He would not admit the astronomical 
theories," (and the same remark will apply to all his 
physical researches,) " of those who went before him, 
because they had no proof. He would not give in 
to their notions about the planets wheeling their 
rounds in whirlpools of ether, for he did not see the 
ether ; he had no proof of its existence ; and besides, 
even supposing it to exist, it would not have im- 
pressed on the heavenly bodies such movements as 



CHAP. Ill/] PHILOSOPHY OF SIR ISAAC NEWTON. 459 

met his observation. He would not submit his 
judgment to the reigning systems of the day, for 
though they had authority to recommend them, they 
had no proof '; and thus it is that he evinced the 
strength and soundness of his philosophy, as much 
by his decisions on those doctrines of science which 
he rejected, as by his demonstration of those doctrines 
of science which he was the first to propose, and 
which now stand out to the eye of posterity as the 
only monuments to the force and superiority of his 
understanding." (pp. 63, 64.) 

350. The writer of these elements cannot forbear 
to decorate his pages with one other extract from 
this admirable discourse, and the rather as it may 
tend to throw additional light on some of the facts 
which have been related in former sections of this 
work. " In that march of intellect which led him 
(Newton) onwards through the rich and magnificent 
field of his discoveries, he pondered every step; and 
while he advanced with a firm and assured movement 
wherever the light of evidence carried him, he never 
suffered any glare of imagination or of prejudice to 
seduce him from his path. Sure I am, that in the 
prosecution of his wonderful career, he found himself 
on a way beset with temptation on every side of him. 
But he expatiated on a lofty region, where, in all 
the giddiness of success, he might have met with 
much to solicit his fancy, and tempt him to some 
devious speculation. Had he been like the majority 
of other men, he would have broken free from the 
fetters of a sober and chastised understanding, and, 
giving wing to his imagination, had done what phi- 
losophers have done after him — been carried away by 



460 PHILOSOPHY OF SIR ISAAC NEWTON. [PART IV. 

some meteor of their own forming, or found their 
amusement in some of their own intellectual pictures, 
or palmed some loose and confident plausibilities of 
their own upon the world. But Newton stood true 
to his principle, that he would take up with nothing 
which wanted evidence, and he kept by his de- 
monstrations and his measurements and his proofs ; 
and if it be true that ( he who ruleth his own spirit 
is greater than he who taketh a city,' there was won, 
in the solitude of his chamber, many a repeated 
victory over himself, which should give a brighter 
lustre to his name than all the conquests he has 
made on the field of discovery, or than all the 
splendour of his positive achievements." (pp. 66, 67.) 
351. But though the philosophy of Newton rested 
wholly on the sure basis of experiment, the mighty 
superstructure could not have been reared without 
the exertion of a mental vigour far beyond that 
which usually characterizes men of genius, and the 
attainment of a degree of science which has seldom 
if ever been equalled. Profoundly skilled in ma- 
thematics, he brought the abstract sciences to bear 
with admirable effect on the knowledge derived 
from the contemplation of nature, and was led on 
from facts and phenomena to general principles and 
laws — from experimental proofs, by an unbroken 
chain of inductive reasoning, to universal truths 
and doctrines of universal application. " He knew," 
remarks Professor Playfair, when instituting a com- 
parison between the genius and philosophy of 
Leibnitz and Newton, " he knew how to transfer 
the truths of abstract science to the study of things 
actually existing, and, by returning in the opposite 



CHAP. Ill/] PHILOSOPHY OF SIR ISAAC NEWTON. 461 

direction, to enrich the former by ideas from the 
latter. In experimental and inductive investigation, 
he was as great as in the pure mathematics, and his 
discoveries were as distinguished in the one as in the 
other. In this double claim to renown, Newton 
stands unrivalled ; and though in the pure mathe- 
matics, perhaps equals may be found, no one will 
come forward as his rival, both in that science and 
in the philosophy of nature." — " No one ever left 
knowledge in a state so different from that in which 
he found it. Men were instructed not only in new 
truths, but also in new methods of discovering truth ; 
they were made acquainted with the great principle 
which connects together the most distant regions of 
space, as well as the most remote periods of duration, 
and which was to lead to future discoveries, far 
beyond what the wisest or most sanguine could 
anticipate."* 

If the preceding remarks on the genius of Newton, 
and the character of his philosophy, be well founded, 
(and the writer has purposely availed himself of the 
opinion and authority of others, rather than obtrude 
his own sentiments,) — if such be the distinguishing 
excellencies and such the glorious results of the mode 
of philosophizing practically adopted by himself, 
and recommended to others, scarcely can we wonder 
that of him it should have been said, in the language 
of high but well-merited panegyric — 

" Nature and Nature's laws lay hid in night, 
God said, * Let Newton be,' and all was Light." 

* Playfair's Second Diss. pp. 89, 90. 



462 SUBVERSION OF [PART TV. 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE PROGRESS OF THE INTELLECTUAL SCIENCES. 



Section I. 

ON THE GRADUAL SUBVERSION OF THE SCHOLASTIC 
PHILOSOPHY. 

352. It is now requisite to revert once more to 
the memorable period of the revival of letters, for 
the purpose of tracing the progress of intellectual 
and moral science, and of observing the manner in 
which the human mind was emancipated from the 
bondage in which it had been long held. At the 
commencement of that period, the despotism of 
Aristotle and the authority of the schoolmen were 
at their height. Upheld by all the influence and 
power of the Roman hierarchy, which as yet scarcely 
an individual had ventured to resist, the scholastic 
philosophy (if such it may be termed) had taken so 
firm a hold of the opinions and prejudices of man- 
kind, that it might seem impossible to shake it. Yet 
the period was at hand, and latent causes were even 
then in operation, which slowly undermined, and 
eventually laid in ruins this mighty fabric. Some 
of these have been already enumerated in the section, 
which treated of the causes of the revival of letters. 
For whatever tended to weaken the authority of 
the Church of Rome, to excite a taste for general 
literature, and to awaken the spirit of inquiry and 



CHAP. IV.3 THE SCHOLASTIC PHILOSOPHY. 463 

reformation, could not fail, in an equal degree, to 
shake the foundations of a system, which originated 
in ignorance and error, and had been perpetuated 
by superstition and priestcraft. Some of the causes 
to which we now allude, wrought silently and in- 
directly, while others assumed the character of open 
and direct hostility to the dogmas of the schoolmen. 
353. The most effectual indirect cause of this 
intellectual change, was the restoration of learning, 
(in the proper sense of that term,) after it had long 
remained in a state of torpor, and had almost ceased 
to exist. A considerable body of genuine scholars 
simultaneously appeared in different parts of Europe, 
whose erudition not only procured for them per- 
sonal distinction, but exerted an influence far be- 
yond their most sanguine expectations. At the head 
of this illustrious phalanx, stood Erasmus of Rotter- 
dam, whose philological labours, both in sacred and 
profane literature, were most extensive and valu- 
able. With him were associated not a few, both of 
the Protestant and Roman catholic communions, 
who were animated by the same spirit, and engaged 
with equal ardour in the work of liberal and en- 
lightened criticism. Of this number were Ludo- 
vicus Vives, Budceus, Faber, Reuchlin, Julius Sca- 
liger, Sir Thomas More, and Melanethon, with many 
others. At this most interesting period, the critical 
investigation of the Sacred Scriptures commenced. 
Materials were sought with the utmost solicitude 
from every quarter for this purpose. The monastic 
libraries were explored wherever access could be 
obtained to them ; and manuscripts of the Old and 



464 SUBVERSION OF [PART IV. 

New Testament were brought thence and collated, 
if not with the accuracy of modern philologists, yet 
with a degree of diligence that was highly com- 
mendable. Critical commentaries and philological 
annotations on the several books of Scripture began 
to multiply ; and the cognate languages of the East 
were employed for the interpretation and elucida- 
tion of the Sacred Writings. These proceedings 
were more than sufficient to excite alarm at the 
court of Rome, and amongst the ecclesiastical au- 
thorities of that religious community, which has 
ever manifested a determined hostility to the dif- 
fusion of scriptural knowledge. Nor was this all. 
While some of these distinguished scholars directed 
their chief attention to sacred criticism, others em- 
ployed their erudition in secular illustrations of the 
classical writings of antiquity ; in decyphering and 
collating ancient MSS. ; in restoring corrupted and 
elucidating obscure passages ; and in bringing to 
light original works, which had slumbered for ages 
in their dusty depositories. Whilst engaged in 
these researches, they discovered that the Aristotelian 
philosophy, which had been taught for ages in the 
schools, and to which they and their fathers had 
been required to yield a blind submission, was widely 
different from that contained in the genuine writings 
of the Stagirite ; that there were many other valu- 
able monuments of heathen philosophy, besides those 
of Aristotle, though they had been proscribed by the 
authority of the church ; and that it was possible to 
explore these relics of antiquity without abandoning 
their christian faith. These investigations were 



€HAP. IV.] THE SCHOLASTIC PHILOSOPHY. 465 

now extended to the writings of the Pythagoreans, 
the Platonists, the Stoics, and other ancient sects 
of philosophers, whose systems were explained and 
publicly taught, in conjunction with the Peripatetic, 
in some of the schools. This was, it is true, a bold 
innovation ; it was denounced by the monks and 
Jesuits as heretical; yet there were some learned 
members of the Roman catholic communion who still 
persisted in these studies, and, like Erasmus, re- 
taliated on the advocates of ignorance by severe 
sarcasms and keen satires against clerical dissolute- 
ness and monastic stupidity. 

354. The names of some of these literary re- 
formers having been incidentally mentioned, it would 
be an act of injustice to those benefactors of man- 
kind, (for such they must be acknowledged to have 
been,) to pass them by, without further notice of 
their character and writings. Such notices must 
necessarily be brief in an elementary work like the 
present ; but may not be unacceptable to the youth- 
ful readers of these pages. 

(1.) Erasmus was born at Rotterdam, a.d. 1467. 
Having lost both his parents in early youth, his 
guardians neglected his education, and forced him 
into a monastery. Here he became so well ac- 
quainted with the immoral habits of the monks, and 
saw so much of the profligacy which then character- 
ized many of these professedly religious establish- 
ments, that he was well able in future years to tear 
off the mask, and expose to public view the mysteries 
of abomination they had long concealed under a 
mask of exemplary piety. The earliest opportunity 

H H 



466 SUBVERSION OF [>ART IV, 

was embraced of throwing off the yoke of monas- 
ticism, and devoting himself to the study of letters. 
His progress was so rapid, that he soon became, 
considering the age in which he lived, a prodigy of 
learning. His literary course commenced at Paris, 
but was chiefly carried on in England, where he 
formed an intimate acquaintance with many dis- 
tinguished scholars ; particularly Colet, Grocyn, 
Linacre, and Sir Thomas More, all of whom must 
be numbered amongst the earliest promoters and 
patrons of classical literature in this country. Many 
attempts were made by the Roman court to induce 
Erasmus to settle in Italy ; but either from a secret 
attachment to the Reformation then commencing, 
or from a personal regard to his British friends and 
patrons, he determined chiefly to reside in England, 
or in contiguous parts of the continent, where he 
might enjoy a greater degree of independence of 
thought and action, than in Roman catholic coun- 
tries. The more serious labours of Erasmus were 
philological, especially in the department of sacred 
criticism ; as is evident from the successive editions 
of the Greek Testament published by him, and his 
commentaries on many parts of Scripture ; but the 
keenness of his satires, the sprightliness of his wit, 
the exquisite humour of his sarcasms, did more than 
all beside to destroy the idolatry of Aristotle, to 
subvert the authority of the schoolmen, and to 
scatter the delusions of priestcraft. His works 
(which were collected and published after his death 
in ten folio volumes) afford the most abundant 
evidence of the versatility of his talents — the extent, 



€HAP. IV.]] THE SCHOLASTIC PHILOSOPHY. 467 

if not the depth, of his erudition — and the incredible 
labour and industry with which he followed up his 
diversified literary pursuits. Though he continued 
professedly a member of the Roman church to the 
end of his life, perhaps none of the reformers (Luther 
alone excepted) contributed more effectually to ex- 
pose the corruptions of the church of Rome, and, by 
doing this, indirectly to promote the cause of the 
Reformation. 

(2.) Ludovicus Vives was one of the many men 
of letters with whom Erasmus was intimately 
associated, and, like him, ardently devoted to gene- 
ral literature. He wrote on many philosophical 
subjects with much acuteness, and a degree of per- 
spicuity, that forms a striking contrast to the 
obscurity of the scholastic writings. Erasmus tes- 
tifies concerning this learned coadjutor and friend, 
that " when only twenty-six years of age, he ex- 
celled in every part of philosophy, and that, in 
the arts of speaking and writing, he stood un- 
rivalled." After the death of Erasmus, Vives fol- 
lowed up the plans of his preceptor, by prosecuting 
still further his philological and philosophical re- 
searches; by unwearied efforts to disperse the intel- 
lectual darkness of preceding ages; by chastising, 
with unsparing severity, the advocates of ignorance 
and corrupters of the public taste ; and by reviving 
a taste for true science and classical learning. 
Among the numerous treatises written by him, 
those which have been most celebrated are his 
<( Essays on the Origin, Sects, and Praises of Phi- 
losophy;" on the u Corruption of Science and 

hh2 



468 SUBVERSION OF [PART IV. 

Education ;" and on the " First Philosophy." A 
modern critic has styled the writings of this eminent 
scholar " golden remains, which are worthy to be 
carefully perused by all learned men." 

(3.) BudtEUs was born at Paris in 1467, and 
spent his youth in dissipation and gaiety; but after- 
wards devoted himself to literature with such assi- 
duity and success, as to be termed, by Erasmus, 
" Portentum Galilee — the prodigy of France'' He 
was an eminent linguist and critic, and, as such, 
can only be said to have contributed to the advance- 
ment of philosophy by indirect means; but those 
means operated most effectually, though by slow 
degrees, to the subversion of the barbarous scho- 
lastic philosophy. Enfield, in his History of Phi- 
losophy, remarks, that " Erasmus, Ludovicus Vives, 
and Budaeus, formed a triumvirate of literature, 
which did honour to the age." 

(4.) Faber, or Le Fevre, was a native of Picardy, 
who flourished at the same period. By diligent 
study of the ancients, and intimate converse with 
the learned men of his age, he acquired a high 
degree of reputation for learning. He was one of 
the most determined opponents of the scholastic 
philosophy, though zealously attached to that of 
Aristotle. His principal works were commentaries 
on the dialectics, physics, ceconomics, and ethics of 
Aristotle, which were considered so complete, as 
to supersede all the labours of preceding anno- 
tators. In common with most of his learned 
contemporaries, he suffered much persecution, and 
encountered many dangers, on account of his efforts 



CHAP. IV/] THE SCHOLASTIC PHILOSOPHY. 469 

to restore true philosophy from its state of degra- 
dation, particularly from the doctors of the Sar- 
bonne; but, protected by the Protestant Queen 
of Navarre, he weathered the storm, and arrived 
at extreme old age. 

(5.) Among the learned philologists and critics 
of that age, Reuchlin, a native of Germany, and 
correspondent of Erasmus, must be mentioned. 
This distinguished scholar was the means of exciting 
an ardent and insatiable thirst for knowledge, far 
beyond the limits of his native country. He was 
the principal restorer of Hebrew learning, at a time 
in which the ecclesiastical authorities denounced it 
as dangerous and heretical; when the faculty of 
theology at Paris publicly maintained that " religion 
was undone if the study of the Greek and Hebrew 
languages was permitted;" and when the inquisitors 
of Cologne and others obtained from the Emperor 
of Germany an edict, which authorised the destruc- 
tion of every Hebrew manuscript, as pernicious to 
the true faith. But the reign of ignorance was 
drawing to a close, and Reuchlin contributed in 
no ordinary degree to accelerate its fall, by his cele- 
brated satirical epistles, entitled, " Epistolae Virorum 
obscuriorum," which produced as powerful an effect 
in their day, as Pascal's " Provincial Letters" at a 
later period. 

(6.) Scaliger is a name familiar to all who are 
conversant with Greek criticism. The elder Sca- 
liger (Julius Caesar), who flourished at the be- 
ginning of the sixteenth century, and the younger 
(Joseph Justus), who was the literary ornament of 



470 SUBVERSION OF [jPART IV. 

its close, were alike famous in their day for a 
prodigious accumulation of critical knowledge ; but 
the latter in a far greater degree than the former. 
They were the authors of an innumerable variety of 
critical commentaries on Latin and Greek authors, 
besides many on the remains of Arabian and eastern 
literature. But their consummate vanity and irri- 
table disposition tarnished the glory of their repu- 
tation, and diminished the value of their writings. 
The younger Scaliger directed his attention par- 
ticularly to chronology, and invented that arrange- 
ment of the calendar, which he designated, in honour 
of his father, the Julian period, 

(7.) Sir Thomas More, who occupies so distin- 
guished a place in English history during the reign 
of Henry VIII., was a highly accomplished scholar, 
and the author of several works, both historical and 
critical, which have been much admired. The only 
production of his pen, that can be said to partake 
of a philosophical character, was his Utopia, a most 
extraordinary production; the sentiments of which 
form a striking contrast to the illiberality and 
bigotry of the latter years of his life. Inimical as 
he was to the principles of the Reformation, he 
maintained an intimate friendship with Erasmus, 
and contributed, by his erudition and writings, to 
undermine the tottering fabric of scholasticism, and 
disperse the darkness of preceding ages. 

(8.) But of all the men of genius who flourished 
at the memorable sera of the Reformation, there 
is perhaps none to whom true science and sound 
philosophy are more deeply indebted, than to the 



CHAP. IV.]] THE SCHOLASTIC PHILOSOPHY. 471 

amiable, the excellent Melancthon. With an ardent 
zeal for the advancement of Christian theology and 
the Protestant faith, he combined an enthusiastic 
attachment to literature, in almost all its several 
departments, and especially to intellectual philo- 
sophy. Unlike the great Saxon Reformer, who 
levelled his artillery indiscriminately against all the 
systems and opinions of the ancients, and all the 
speculations of the scholastics, Melancthon laboured 
assiduously to separate " the precious from the 
vile;" to discriminate between the profitable and 
true, and that which was merely theoretical and 
fallacious ; and to substitute a rational logic for the 
absurd dialectics of the schoolmen. As the most 
effectual means of accomplishing this design, he 
aimed at the improvement of education in the public 
schools, by introducing elementary books in science 
and philosophy, freed from the unintelligible jargon 
of the writers of the middle ages. Some of these 
were drawn up by himself, and were very far 
superior to those previously in use, though they 
discovered an undue regard to ancient theories and 
systems, and were quickly superseded by the more 
enlarged and enlightened philosophy of the illus- 
trious Bacon, to whom was reserved the honour 
of giving the final blow to the scholastic philosophy, 
by pointing out a more excellent way. 



472 REFORMATION OF [PART IV. 

Section II. 

ON THE REFORMATION OF INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY 
BY LORD BACON. 

355. The illustrious personage, whose name is 
prefixed to this section — illustrious not so much on 
account of his title, and rank, and dignified offices* 
as because of the pre-eminence of his genius, and his 
high mental endowments — occupies the very first 
place in the list of intellectual philosophers, whether 
of ancient or modern times. He was, in the de- 
partment of mental philosophy, what Luther was in 
that of religion — the first of Reformers ; the great 
emancipator of the human mind from the thraldom 
in which it had been held during a long series of 
ages — the founder, not of a philosophical sect, bear- 
ing his name and doing homage to his memory, (like 
Plato and Aristotle,) but of an intellectual republic, 
established on the ruins of ignorance and mental 
despotism. Such an individual may justly demand 
a more than ordinary degree of attention in a work 
which, however elementary its character, professes 
to trace the progress of knowledge, and develop the 
history of the human mind. It will therefore be 
attempted, in this and some following sections, to 
convey a distinct conception of the state of intellec- 
tual philosophy when Lord Bacon arose — to state 
the principal facts of his literary history — to give 
a brief outline of some of his principal works — and 
to form an estimate of the character and influence of 
his philosophy, both in his own times, and in suc- 
ceeding ages. 



CHAP. IV.3 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY. 473 

356. From statements already made, it will not 
be difficult to perceive that the circumstances and 
events which occupied public attention, when Bacon 
commenced his illustrious career, were highly 
favourable to the development of genius, and well 
calculated to stimulate to the utmost exertion 
every intellectual faculty of man. The scholastic 
philosophy had been assailed by wit and argument, 
by learning, taste, and genuine science. The Re- 
formation had diffused its light over a great part 
of the European continent, and men were beginning 
to think, and inquire, and investigate truth for 
themselves, both in philosophy and religion. 

Still, however, the ancient system retained its 
hold, and even seemed to be recruiting its strength. 
It was apprehended, by some persons of exem- 
plary piety, (among whom was the amiable Me- 
lancthon,) that if all the ancient landmarks were 
removed, infidelity and atheism would universally 
prevail. They feared, that if " the veil of awful 
obscurity which then covered the face of nature 
were withdrawn, the rash curiosity of mankind 
would lead them to account for all appearances 
in the visible world, by second causes, by the powers 
of matter and mechanism ; and thus they might 
come insensibly to forget or neglect the Great 
Original Cause of all." These pious but mistaken 
apprehensions led them to aim rather at a refor- 
mation of the old — than the establishment of a neiv 
system of philosophy — to labour at effecting the 
purification, and not the demolition of the venerated 
temple, of which Aristotle was the tutelar deity. 



474 REFORMATION OF [PART IV. 

357. There were, however, some philosophers, 
occupying the intermediate space between the Re- 
formation and the aera of Lord Bacon, who appear 
to have strongly imbibed the well-known opinion 
of Luther, that " it was impossible to reform either 
religion or philosophy, till the metaphysical theo- 
logy of the schools was renounced, the authority 
of Aristotle subverted, and the scholastic system 
utterly demolished." They consequently directed 
all their energies to the accomplishment of these 
objects, though with comparatively little success. 

(1.) The first of these was Ramus, a French 
logician, born a. d. 1515, who may be numbered 
among the few who have suffered martyrdom for 
their philosophical opinions. Ramus was of humble 
origin, but manifested, in early youth, talents of 
no ordinary kind, by which he was gradually raised 
from a servile office in the college of Navarre, to 
one of its professorships. In this honourable station 
he acquired great celebrity ; but, at the same time, 
stirred up against himself a host of enemies, by his 
determined opposition to the Peripatetic philosophy. 
Endowed with an acute and vigorous mind, and 
furnished with the graces of elocution, he disputed 
publicly in the university of Paris, against the logic 
of Aristotle and the schoolmen ; held them up to 
ridicule, and exposed the most vulnerable parts 
of their system. In a series of publications on dia- 
lectic subjects, he steadily pursued the same object, 
and assailed with the utmost vehemence this vene- 
rated fabric of antiquity. Attempts were made by 
a few more daring combatants to vanquish him in 



CHAP. 1V.3 INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY. 475 

public debate ; but finding that this experiment 
failed, they had recourse, according to the custom 
of that age, to civil authority and the sword 
of persecution. He was forbidden to teach phi- 
losophy, or to write on philosophical subjects; 
and eventually compelled to take refuge in Pro- 
testant countries from the machinations of his 
enemies. After having taught logic in several of 
the German universities, he unadvisedly returned to 
Paris, a short time before the execrable day of 
St. Bartholemew, when he was massacred <pro- 
fessedhj as a Hugonot — but really at the instigation 
of Charpentain, one of the professors of the univer- 
sity of Paris, whom he had foiled in argument, and 
who was jealous of his reputation. The " Manual 
of Logic," published by Ramus, was compiled from 
the dialectics of the Platonists, Peripatetics, and 
Stoics. It continued, during many years, to be 
used in the public schools of Germany, Holland, 
England, and the Protestant provinces of France ; 
but that which renders it peculiarly interesting in 
the present day is, that it was deemed, by the author 
of " Paradise Lost," of sufficient importance to 
employ his splendid talents, in enriching it with 
commentaries and annotations. 

(2.) About the same period flourished in Italy, 
Bruno , a native of Nola, in the kingdom of Naples, who 
also must be added to the list of philosophical martyrs ; 
for he was burned at Rome, by order of the sanguinary 
court of Inquisition, a. d. 1600. His speculations 
were bold, his opinions novel, and the character of 
his mind independent — crimes which have always 



476 REFORMATION OF [PART IV. 

been considered unpardonable by the advocates of 
intolerance and ignorance. Bruno was the author 
of numerous tracts on metaphysical subjects, in some 
of which he contends for opinions similar to those 
afterwards maintained by Des Cartes and Leibnitz, 
and which appear to have been derived from the 
oriental philosophy. The principles maintained by 
him, in his treatises on " Shadows of Ideas," on 
" Infinity and the Universe," and on " Monads, 
Number, and Figure," prove him to have possessed 
an acute and vigorous mind, capable of pursuing 
abstract speculations; but at the same time they 
evince that his philosophy was more Pagan than 
Christian. Dr. Enfield, after presenting a summary 
view of his metaphysical system, states, that " his 
doctrine appears to have been the result of an 
absurd attempt to unite the atomic and emanative 
systems of philosophy, in which mathematics, physics, 
and metaphysics are injudiciously confounded, and 
which on the whole rather served to perplex than to 
improve philosophy."* 

(3.) Towards the close of the sixteenth century, 
flourished Campanella, a native of Calabria, in Italy, 
who trod nearly in the steps of Bruno, and narrowly 
escaped his fate. His mighty but eccentric genius 
prompted him to bold speculations in philosophy, 
and sceptical if not atheistical notions in religion. 
His works were numerous, on almost every topic 
that lies within the range of metaphysical and 
moral science. Of the logical system of Campanella, 

* Enfield's Hist, of Philos. Vol. II. 517. 



CHAP. IV/] INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY. 477 

it is stated that, though widely different from the 
Peripatetic, and still more from the Scholastic, it 
abounds no less than they with subtle distinctions 
and unintelligible jargon. Nor were his metaphysical 
opinions less obscure than his dialectics ; yet the 
celebrated Leibnitz, who could not be an incompetent 
judge of his intellectual character and attainments, 
estimates them so highly as to place him above 
Hobbes in moral science, and on a level with Bacon 
in intellectual philosophy. 

358. The only valuable end attained by the 
writings of Ramus, Bruno, Campanella, Patricius, 
Nizolius, and a few others of the same class, who 
nourished during the sixteenth century, and filled 
up the space between Luther and Bacon, was, that 
they shook and gradually undermined the authority 
of the Scholastics, and, by doing this, prepared the 
way for the reception of a more enlightened phi- 
losophy, by whomsoever it might be promulgated. 
But none of these invented any thing truly valuable ; 
they possessed not sufficient comprehension of mind 
to substitute a new and rational system in place of 
that which was crumbling beneath their touch. But 
it has been justly observed by Stewart, in vindication 
of the reputation of Ramus, (and the remark will 
apply to several of his contemporaries,) that " even 
the praise of having shaken the Aristotelian fabric, 
without substituting any thing more solid in its 
place — scanty as it may now appear — involves a large 
tribute to his memory as a philosophical reformer. 
Before human reason was able to advance, it was 
necessary that it should first be released from the 
weight of its fetters." There was still wanting, 



478 REFORMATION OF [PART IV. 

however, a master genius, endowed with sufficient 
vigour of intellect to devise a great and compre- 
hensive plan, which should embrace all the varieties 
of human science, and guide our investigations in 
all by a safe, if not an infallible rule. This 
kind of universal philosophy was the great object 
which Bacon pursued, as the end of his intellectual 
researches. u If," says one of his numerous bio- 
graphers, " we stand surprised at the happy imagi- 
nation of such a system, our surprise redoubles upon 
us, when we reflect that he invented and methodized 
this system, perfected so much, and sketched out so 
much more of it, amidst the drudgery of business 
and the civil tumults of a court. Nature seems to 
have intended him peculiarly for this province, by 
bestowing on him with a liberal hand all the qualities 
requisite — a fancy voluble and prompt to discover 
the similitudes of things — a judgment steady and 
intent to note their subtlest difference — a love of 
meditation and inquiry — a patience in doubting — a 
slowness and diffidence in affirming— a facility of 
retracting — a careful anxiety to plan and dispose. 
A mind of such a cast, that it neither affected novelty 
nor idolized antiquity — that was an enemy to all 
imposture— must have had a certain congeniality 
and relation to truth. These characters, which, 
with a noble confidence, he has applied to himself, 
are obvious and eminent in his ( Instauration of the 
Sciences? a work designed by him, not as a monu- 
ment to his own fame, but a perpetual legacy to the 
common benefit of others."* 

* Vide Mallet's Life of Bacon, prefixed to a complete edition 
of his Works, published in 1740, in 4 vols. fol. (p. lx.) 



CHAP. IV.^ INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY. 479 

Section III. 

SKETCH OF THE LITERARY HISTORY OF LORD BACON. 

359. Francis Bacon, a younger son of Sir 
Nicholas Bacon, Lord Keeper of the Seals during 
the reign of Queen Elizabeth, was born at York 
House, in the Strand, a. d. 1561. When twelve 
years old, he was entered of Trinity College, Cam- 
bridge, where his progress in learning was so rapid, 
that he is said, before he had attained his sixteenth 
year, to have run through the whole circle of the 
liberal sciences, as then taught in that ancient uni- 
versity, and even to have formed a deep conviction 
of the necessity of some surer guide in the inves- 
tigation of truth, than the theoretic philosophy then 
in vogue. In his nineteenth year, while resident 
at Paris, he composed his first treatise, containing 
* Observations on the State of Europe," which, 
though short, afforded sufficient indications of the 
pre-eminence of his genius. The early loss of his 
father, and his own comparatively straitened cir- 
cumstances, rendered it necessary that he should 
withdraw for a time from his literary pursuits, and 
devote himself to the study of law ; but even while 
thus employed, he found leisure to write another 
treatise, entitled " The greatest Birth of Time," 
the object of which, as far as it can now be ascer- 
tained, was, to point out the defects of learning, and 
the best means of supplying them. It is much to 
be regretted, that this early production of the mighty 



480 LITERARY HISTORY OF [PART IV. 

genius of Bacon has perished, which, it should seem, 
from some parts of his correspondence, contained 
the first outline of that system of philosophy, sub- 
sequently developed in his principal works. 

360. Passing over the events of Bacon's political 
history, as foreign to the design of this volume, 
this illustrious individual will at present be regarded 
alone as the father of experimental philosophy in 
all its branches, and the inventor of an enlightened 
logic, founded on the principles of right reason. 
To this view of his literary character the inestimable 
writings of this great philosopher bear ample testi- 
mony. The first of these was his well-known and 
justly-admired treatise on the " Progress and Ad- 
vancement of Learning" (De Augmentis Scientia- 
rum) 9 which made its first appearance in 1605, 
though the subject of which it treats had long 
before occupied his thoughts and studies. This was 
followed, in 1610, by a treatise on "the Wisdom 
of the Ancients," which bears the same characters 
of original inventive genius, and in which the pro- 
posed object of his former work was steadily pur- 
sued, and carried forward most successfully. In 
1620, his great work, entitled " Novum Organum" 
was published, which formed a second part of his 
" Instauration of the Sciences ;" the treatise on the 
" Advancement of Learning" being now considered 
as its first division. Next to these were published, 
at different periods, and amidst the pressure of 
state affairs, the results of his physical researches 
and experiments in a series of treatises on the 
phenomena of the universe, natural history, and 



CHAP. IV.;] LORD BACON. 481 

many other branches of practical science. The 
whole train of his philosophical productions ter- 
minated with his " Scala Intellectus" a highly intel- 
lectual dissertation ; intended to trace the steps by 
which the human mind ascends in its philosophical 
researches, from the lowest grade to its highest 
degree of elevation : from insulated facts to general 
truths; from the simplest elements of knowledge to 
the perfection of science. The " Historical Tracts" 
and " Moral Essays" were among the latest pro- 
ductions of his genius, and, together with many 
of his philosophical pieces, were written after his 
political fall and degradation. The Lord Chancellor 
Bacon terminated a life of extraordinary mental 
exertion and activity, in 1626, in the sixty-fifth 
year of his age. 

361. But, to form a distinct conception of the 
intellectual qualities of Lord Bacon, and a correct 
estimate of the value of those celebrated works 
which are unquestionably to be reckoned among the 
chefs cVwuv7*es of human genius, it is requisite to 
view them in their relative connexion ; for they con- 
stitute, in reality, but one magnificent whole, and 
afford an exquisite specimen of the " Scala In- 
tellectus" which he recommends to others. In the 
first of the abovementioned works, (the treatise, 
" De Aug?nentis") the author proposes to take a 
general survey of human knowledge, contemplating 
the intellectual faculties under the three great 
divisions of Memory, Fancy or imagination, and 
Understanding. Corresponding with these, all the 
arts and sciences are classed under three heads, 

1 1 



482 LITERARY HISTORY OF [>ART IV. 

namely, History, Poetry, and Philosophy. Under 
each of these, an inquiry is instituted into what 
is erroneous or defective ; and the most proper 
means are suggested for correcting the errors, 
amending the defects, and supplying the omissions 
in all. The next surveys the works and discoveries 
of the ancients, and both enumerates and estimates 
the inventions of past ages, tracing out, as in one 
general chart, the several tracts of science that still 
lay uncultivated and waste, and suggesting, as he 
proceeds, the most desirable improvements and the 
probable discoveries to be made by future philoso- 
phers. Having thus cleared the way for his great 
and principal design, he proposed, in his u Novum 
Organum" to " raise and enlarge the powers of 
the mind by a more useful application of its reason- 
ing faculty, to all the objects of philosophical 
research." In this admirable treatise a new and 
rational logic is exhibited, which forms a striking 
contrast to that of the Scholastics ; a logic calculated, 
not to supply arguments for controversy, but arts 
for the use of mankind — not to triumph over an 
enemy by subtle and sophistical disputation, but to 
subdue nature itself by experiment and analysis.'* 
Rejecting with deserved contempt the logomachies 
of the schoolmen, he recommends a careful induction, 
that examines scrupulously the data on which rea- 
sonings are founded ; views them in every possible 
light ; rejects all that is not necessarily included 
in the subject, and draws its conclusions with truth 
and certainty. By this his celebrated method of 
induction, which forms a distinguishing feature of 



CHAP. IV-3 LORD BACON. 483 

the philosophy of Lord Bacon,, the noblest theory 
has been exhibited to mankind for the investigation 
of physical and moral truth, that the human mind 
has ever conceived. 

362. A solid foundation having been thus laid in 
a clear and rational logic, this enlightened philoso- 
pher points out, in his remaining philosophical works, 
its right application, by collecting and furnishing 
a prodigious mass of experimental facts in physical 
and moral science. This vast collection, the result 
of patient and unwearied research continued during 
many years, was not arranged and made public 
till after his death. It may be considered as an 
important step taken towards a complete History 
of Nature. The phenomena of the universe are 
classified under three general divisions : (1.) the 
history of generation, or the production of all the 
species of created existences, according to the ordi- 
nary course of nature ; (2.) the history of preter- 
generation, or those productions which deviate from 
the stated rule ; (3.) the history of nature as modi- 
fied, improved, altered, or debased by human art. 
The design of this philosophical inquirer, in making 
this collection of facts, he has stated to be " to con- 
struct a " Scala Intellectus" by which the human 
mind may regularly ascend in its intellectual re- 
searches, and thus to furnish materials for a true and 
useful philosophy." All these, however, were re- 
garded but as the preparatory steps to a yet more 
magnificent project which he meditated, but did 
not live to accomplish — that of establishing, on the 

i i2 



434 LITERARY HISTORY OF [>ART IV. 

immoveable basis of experiment, a philosophy 
purely axiomatical and scientific, freed from all 
visionary speculations, and all uncertain conjectures 
and theories, resulting from that just and patient 
investigation of natural phenomena, of which his 
own writings furnish so admirable a model. 
". Such," says his biographer, and the learned 
editor of his works, " such, and so unlimited were 
his views for the universal advancement of science. 
Such was the noble aim to which all his philosophic 
labours were directed. — What Caesar said, in com- 
pliment to Cicero, may, with justice, be applied 
to him: that it was more glorious to have extended 
the limits of human wit, than to have enlarged 
the bounds of the Roman world. Sir Francis Bacon 
really did so : a truth acknowledged, not only 
by the greatest private names in Europe, but by 
all the public societies of its most civilized nations. 
France, Italy, Germany, Britain, I may add, even 
Russia, have taken him for their leader, and sub- 
mitted to be governed by his institutions. The 
empire he has erected in the learned world, is 
as universal as the free use of reason, and the 
one must continue till the other is no more."* 

* Vide Bacon's Life, ut sup. p. 65. 



CHAP. IV.] LORD BACON. 485 

Section IV. 

SUMMARY VIEW OF THE PHILOSOPHY OF LORD BACON. 

363. The influence of Lord Verulam's writings 
on the progress of knowledge and genuine philoso- 
phy has been so great, that they may justly demand 
a more distinct review than the general sketch at- 
tempted in the last section. A brief outline will 
therefore be given, in the present, of the numerous 
and highly important topics introduced into his 
principal work, (the " Novum Organum") a work, 
which contains the full development of his new and 
admirable method of philosophizing. 

(1.) The first object proposed, and which is ob- 
viously a prerequisite to the discovery of truth, is 
the detection of the principal causes cf error. These 
(which in figurative language are termed idols, be- 
cause they are a kind of false divinities, to which the 
mind of man had been long accustomed to do 
homage,) are classed under four heads, which he 
designates, Idols of the Tribe — of the Den — of the 
Forum — and of the Theatre. The former includes 
all those erroneous conceptions which are found to 
pervade human nature generally, and originate in 
principles common to all mankind ; such as the love 
of system, the disposition to theorize, and the pro- 
pensity which exists in all men to attribute effects 
to inadequate or imaginary causes. The second 
comprehends all those sources of error which arise 
out of the character and mental constitution of 



486 PHILOSOPHY OF LORD BACON. [PART IV. 

individuals ; some of whom are carried away by their 
imaginations; others by their fondness for specu- 
lation and novelty ; others by their love of contro- 
versy, or their taste for dialectic subtilties. The 
works of Aristotle, and the golden dreams of the 
alchemists, are alluded to as furnishing memorable 
specimens of this class of mental aberrations. The 
third embraces those errors, which arise out of the 
social relations of mankind, and especially which 
result from the imperfection of language as a 
medium of intercourse and vehicle of thought. By 
the fourth, it was intended to characterize those 
deceptions and illusions which may be traced to 
the imagination, or are the result of abstract specu- 
lation. Such were the dogmas of the schoolmen, 
and the physical systems of antiquity. The latter 
were again subdivided into the sophistical, or those 
into which the mind is betrayed by false reasonings ; 
and the empirical, or those in which it is misled by 
imperfect experiments, as is usually the case in the 
infancy of science. 

364. (2.) After this minute and philosophical 
analysis of the sources of error, Bacon proceeds to 
illustrate and demonstrate them by facts drawn from 
the history of mankind. This is the great object of 
his learned and elaborate review of the learning of 
the ancients, under the threefold division of the 
Greeks, the Romans, and the western nations of 
Europe ; shewing distinctly how knowledge had 
been obstructed and truth obscured during all these 
successive stages of the history of the human mind, 
by one or other of the causes of error stated above. 



CHAP. |Y.Q PHILOSOPHY OF LORD BACON. 487 

Particularly is the great erudition of the author 
employed in gathering proofs from the records of 
antiquity, that these perversions had chiefly arisen 
from neglecting the study of nature — from an un- 
due reverence to authority, and from the fact that 
ancient philosophers considered it beneath them to 
investigate the causes of ordinary phenomena, con- 
fining their attention to occult qualities, and what- 
ever was mysterious and uncommon in the operations 
of nature. In opposition to these fruitful sources 
of delusion, he urges upon men of learning the 
diligent investigation of nature, and the unfettered 
pursuit of truth, whithersoever it may lead. 

365. (3.) The necessary preliminary steps having 
been taken, the illustrious author advances to a 
more distinct explanation of his method of induction, 
as that which can alone lead to the detection of 
error and discovery of truth. Here he shews that 
the primary object to be attained is to ascertain 
facts, or, in other words, to collect the history of 
nature. The next is, by a comparison of these 
facts, to endeavour to find out the cause of each 
particular phenomenon, or (to adopt his own phrase) 
\tsform, by which term he designed to express the 
permanent qualities, and not merely the outward 
configuration of any substance. To ascertain those 
forms, two processes of investigation are recom- 
mended, which he technically terms !? latens pro* 
cessus" and " latens schematismus f the first of which 
denotes the secret invisible progress by which phy- 
sical changes are effected ; the second indicates the 
hidden structure or composition of bodies, on which 



488 PHILOSOPHY OF LORD BACON. [PART IV. 

those changes frequently depend ; e. g. in mechanics 
we inquire into the phenomena of nature by means 
of the latens processus— in chemical researches and 
experiments,, by that of latens schematismus. On 
this firm and solid basis rests the whole super- 
structure of the inductive or experimental philosophy, 
which first excludes from the investigation of forms 
or causes those properties which are either accidental 
or hypothetical, and then proceeds by a careful 
analysis to the establishment of general principles 
and laws. In other words, it is laid down as a 
rule of universal application, that " whatever may 
be the case with superior intelligences, man can only 
attain knowledge by beginning with negatives, and 
proceeding to affirmatives" 

366. (4.) It was the boast of the Peripatetic 
philosophers, that the famous categories of their 
great master included all the objects of human 
knowledge philosophically arranged. But with far 
greater propriety might this be asserted with 
reference to the classification of facts, or instances, 
which Lord Bacon has introduced into his " Novum 
Organum," and illustrated by numerous examples. 
It is not possible, without extending unduly the 
limits of this work, to convey any adequate idea of 
this important division of the philosophical system 
of Lord Bacon ; yet it would be still more inex- 
cusable to pass it over unnoticed. As a middle and 
more convenient course, a simple enumeration will 
be made of the twenty-seven classes, or species of 
facts, which are distinctly mentioned, with one 
example of each, selected out of many adduced by 



CHAP. IV.]] PHILOSOPHY OF LORD BACON. 489 

the illustrious author. It will be perceived that the 
titles are, in some instances, quaint and fanciful; 
but they for the most part happily express the 
meaning they are intended to convey. 

In order to prove the utility and importance of 
experimental knowledge, to facilitate the inves- 
tigation of nature, physical facts (termed by the 
philosopher " prcerogativce instantiarum") are ar- 
ranged as follows : 

1 . Solitary — illustrated by the doctrine of colours. 

2. Migrating — exemplified by physical changes of 

form, &c. 

3. Ostensive or convincing — as in the case of the 

thermometer. 

4. Clandestine— as in the magnet or loadstone. 

5. Constituent or collective — as in the process of me- 

mory, &c. 

6. Parallel or conformable — as in the human eye and 

lenses, 

7. Singular or heteroclite — as the sun among the stars. 

8. Deviating or irregular — as in the case of monsters. 

9. Frontier or boundary facts — as moss, bats, and apes. 

10. Those which indicate power — as inventions and 

discoveries. 

11. Accompanying and hostile — as fire and smoke, or 

air and solidity. 

12. Subjunctive or extreme — as gold in weight, the 

whale in bulk, iron in hardness, &c. 

13. Instances of confederacy and alliance— illustrated 

by attraction. 

14. Crucial facts, or those which decide doubtful 

questions — illustrated by the tides. 

15. Instances of divorce or separation — as in the acci- 

dental qualities of bodies, or the phenomena of 
magnetism. 



490 



PHILOSOPHY OF LORD BACON. [PART IV. 



16. Those of the gate, the portal — e. g. the telescope 
and microscope. 

17. Summoning facts — as when latent properties are 
brought to light by experiment. 

18. Progressive — as in the processes of vegetation and 
nutrition. 

19. Supplemental or substitutive — as in chemical affinities 
and combinations. 

20. Lancing or vellicating facts — those by which the 
understanding is forcibly reminded of remarkable 
phenomena. 

21. Measuring or terminating facts f which relate to 
space and distance — as in percussion or attraction. 

22. Those of the course or regular motion — as in the 
propagation of sound or the velocity of light. 

23. Those of quantity — as in drops of dew, or the 
ocean. 

24. Reluctant, or those indicative of the inertia of 
matter : (under this class, all the varieties of motion 
are considered.) 

25. Intimating facts, or those which suggest others. 

26. Sovereign or general, including those which have 
been fully established by numerous experiments. 

27. Magical facts, or those in which marvellous effects 
are produced by apparently trifling causes. 

Of the above classification of instances it may 
be remarked, that fifteen relate to the under- 
standing, five to the senses, and the remaining seven 
to the practical arts and sciences. It is a lasting 
memorial of the ingenuity and profound wisdom of 
its inventor, and fully justifies the following high 
eulogium, pronounced by the late Professor Play fair, 
at the close of his elaborate and admirable analysis 
of the Novum Organum: — " The power and com- 
pass of such a mind, which could form such a plan 



CHAP. IVJ PHILOSOPHY OF LORD BACON. 491 

beforehand, and trace not merely the outlines, but 
many of the most minute ramifications of sciences 
which did not yet exist, must be an object of admi- 
ration to all succeeding ages. He is destined (if 
indeed any thing in the world be so destined) to 
be an instcmtia singularis among men; and as lie 
had no rival in times past, he is likely to have none 
in those which are to come. If ever a second Bacon 
is to arise, he must be ignorant of the first." — ( Vide 
Play/air's Diss, ut sup. p. 55.) 



Section V. 

GENERAL VIEW OF THE INTELLECTUAL CHARACTER 
OF LORD BACON. 

367. Many of the distinguished names which 
have occurred in former sections are identified with 
some one department of science, in which they 
excelled, and where their efforts proved most suc- 
cessful. Few, comparatively, are those who have 
acquired honourable distinction in both the great 
divisions of human knowledge, scientific and intel- 
lectual ; and among these, Lord Bacon stands pre- 
eminent. Galileo, Kepler, Huygens, and, above all, 
Newton, may perhaps rank above Bacon, both in 
mathematical and physical science ; but, if we ex- 
cept the last of the illustrious train of natural 
philosophers just enumerated, their views even on 
physical subjects were far less comprehensive than 
those of Bacon ; and in intellectual science they were 



492 CHARACTER OF LORD BACON. [PART IV. 

utterly unable to approach him. While pursuing 
their most brilliant discoveries, the former were led 
on step by step without any anticipations of the 
developments of future ages ; but the latter seems 
to have astonished both his contemporaries and his 
successors, by a long catalogue of desiderata and 
facienda, by his almost prophetic visions of futurity. 
Upborne by his mighty genius, as to the summit of 
some lofty mountain, his eagle sight penetrated 
through the surrounding darkness, and saw, dimly 
and indistinctly indeed, but yet with sufficient clear- 
ness to guide future inquirers, the vast regions of 
experimental philosophy, which have since been 
traversed in every direction. 

368. But merited as is the renown of Lord Bacon, 
acquired by his physical researches, it is manifest 
from his writings, that he was more completely at 
home in intellectual philosophy; and that, if the 
properties and laws of matter were subjects, to the 
investigation of which the force of his genius was 
frequently directed, those with which he was most 
familiar, and in which he most delighted, were the 
phenomena of mind, — " the laws, the resources, and 
the limits of the human understanding." 

(1.) As a profound logician, Bacon stands un- 
rivalled. Despising the subtil ties, which, during 
many ages, had been mistaken for true science ; 
passing over, with silent contempt, the absurd logo- 
machies of the schoolmen, he devised a method of 
reasoning at once the most simple and conclusive — 
that of legitimate induction. The object of this 
inductive process of reasoning is, by ascending from 



CHAP. IV. ^ CHARACTER OF LORD F.ACON. 493 

axioms, or self-evident truths, to principles of uni- 
versal application, to arrive at demonstration and 
absolute certainty; just as in physics, we are led 
onward from individual facts, by a series of experi- 
mental proofs, to the discovery of some general 
law of nature. That this most satisfactory process 
should have effectually subverted the scholastic 
logic, without any attempt, on the part of its author, 
to expose the absurdities and sophistry of the school- 
men, might reasonably have been expected ; nor 
would it require much penetration to perceive, that 
such a work as the " Novum Organum," could not 
fail to produce a new sera in the dialectic art. 

369. (2.) With logic, universal grammar, or the 
theory of language, is closely connected. Nor did 
this escape the penetrating genius of Bacon, though 
his aphorisms on this subject must rather be consi- 
dered as hints suggested to future logicians, than 
systematically arranged. His inquiry into the mutual 
influence of thought and language is most impor- 
tant, and still remains as a highly interesting object 
of philosophical research. The distinction made 
by him between grammar, considered as a branch 
of literature, and as a department of philosophy, 
affords a fine specimen of the enlarged, the com- 
prehensive, the almost boundless view he was accus- 
tomed to take of whatever subject fell beneath his 
notice. The former is chiefly concerned in tracing- 
out the analogies and relations of words among 
themselves ; but the latter aims at the discovery 
and adjustment of the relation between words and 
things, — it is the sensible portraiture of the mental 



494 CHARACTER OF LORD BACON. [PART IV. 

process. This important subject, which was first 
brought forward in a transient but masterly manner 
by Lord Bacon, has of late years been discussed by 
philosophers of no ordinary name, with distinguished 
success. 

370. (3.) Bacon was too sound a philosopher to 
attempt the establishment of a metaphysical system, 
or aim at the construction of a complete theory of 
the human mind ; though it is scarcely possible to 
conceive of a human being better qualified for the 
undertaking. But he was an avowed enemy to sys- 
tems and theories : he accounted them the most fruit- 
ful sources of error ; and therefore determined to 
be ever on his guard against an ignis fatuus, by 
which so many had been bewildered. He touches, 
it is true, in almost every part of his writings, on 
the intellectual phenomena. He treats separately 
of the more important faculties of the understanding, 
and their various modes of operation. He delights 
to dwell on the capacities and improveability of the 
human mind : but amidst all the enthusiasm of his 
genius, when expatiating on these subjects, he never 
loses sight of the present imperfection of human 
knowledge, or lays aside the modesty and humility 
of a true philosopher. 

371. (4.) The ethical writings of Bacon, though 
less celebrated than his treatise on logic and meta- 
physics, are no less characterized by profound 
thought, inventive genius, brilliant fancy, and correct 
reasoning. Respecting these moral disquisitions, it is 
remarked, that " on the influence of custom and the 
formation of habits, Bacon has opened some new 



CHAP. IV. ] CHARACTER OF LORD BACON. 495 

and interesting views : a most important article of 
moral philosophy, on which he has enlarged more 
ably and more usefully than any writer since Aris- 
totle." Under the same head of ethics may be 
mentioned the small volume to which he has given 
the title of Essays, the best known and most popu- 
lar of his works. It is also one of those in which 
the superiority of his genius appears to the greatest 
advantage, the novelty and depth of his reflections 
often receiving a strong relief from the triteness of 
his subject. It may be read from beginning to end 
in a few hours ; and yet, after the twentieth perusal, 
one seldom fails to remark in it something overlooked 
before. " This, indeed," adds the same elegant and 
judicious writer, " is a characteristic of all Bacon's 
writings, and is only to be accounted for by the 
inexhaustible aliment they furnish to our own 
thoughts, and the sympathetic activity they impart 
to our torpid faculties."* 

(5.) The only points of view in which it is requi- 
site farther to glance at the philosophical character 
of this great man, relate to the departments of 
political philosophy or jurisprudence, and education. 
The former of these pervades his state papers, 
letters, and histories ; — the latter is advocated with 
much eloquence and erudition in one of his treatises, 
entitled, " The Georgics of the Mind;" the object of 
which is not only to prove the importance of educa- 
tion, but to suggest rules for the development and 
improvement of the intellectual character, — a work 

* Stewart's Diss, ut sup. p. 54. 



496 LIFE AND WRITINGS £PART IV, 

worthy of its illustrious author, and particularly 
deserving of attention in the present day, when edu- 
cation is making such rapid progress among all 
classes of society* 



Section VI. 

SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF DES CARTES* 

372. Although the distinguished philosopher, 
whose literary biography is now to be sketched, 
flourished nearly forty years after Lord Bacon, it 
does not appear, from any part of his numerous 
writings, that he was acquainted with the works of 
our great English philosopher. It is scarcely pos- 
sible that he should have been ignorant that such 
works existed ; for they are not unfrequently alluded 
to, and even quoted by some of his learned corre- 
spondents. The topics to which the philosophical 
treatises of Bacon relate, are so similar to many of 
those which occupied the attention of Des Cartes, 
that it might have been reasonably expected he 
would be solicitous to know what had been pre^ 
viously written on these subjects, by a man whose 
fame had already resounded throughout Europe. 
It is probable that the true reasons of Des Cartes' 
ignorance of these writings, or rather his silence 
respecting them, were, either that he was too busily 
occupied through life with his own abstractions and 
speculations, to find leisure to cultivate an extensive 



CHAP. IV 4 ] OF DES CARTES. 497 

acquaintance with those of others ; or that his 
disposition to theorize and speculate, disinclined 
him to pursue the cautious mode of philosophizing 
recommended by his illustrious predecessor, and 
disqualified him to estimate fairly his merits. How- 
ever this may have been, it is certain, that scarcely 
a greater contrast can be imagined, than that which 
may be perceived both in the intellectual character 
and habits, and in the philosophical systems of these 
two distinguished personages. In proof of this 
remark, a brief sketch will be attempted, in the 
present section, of the literary history of Des Cartes ; 
and in the next, a summary view given of the Car- 
tesian philosophy. 

373. Renez Des Cartes was born in the depart- 
ment of Touraine in France, a. d. 1596. Whilst 
yet a child, he was characterized by an insatiable 
curiosity to know the reasons of things which 
attracted his notice, and to trace effects to their 
causes ; thus affording a very early presage of his 
future eminence in intellectual philosophy. He re- 
ceived the first elements of knowledge at the Jesuits' 
College of La Fleche, which was then, and long 
afterwards, a famous seat of classical and mathema- 
tical learning. Disgusted, however, with the scho- 
lastic method of education which then prevailed, he 
abandoned for a time all literary pursuits, entered 
the army, and fought, during several campaigns, 
under the banners of Prince Maurice de Nassau, in 
Holland, and Maximilian of Bavaria, in Germany. 
While pursuing his military career, Des Cartes 
gave himself up to habits of mental indolence and 

K K 



498 LIFE AND WRITINGS [PART IV. 

dissipation, from which he was with difficulty re- 
claimed by the earnest exhortations of some friends 
of his youth, who had justly appreciated his talents, 
and lamented their perversion. At their solicita- 
tion he quitted the army and the gaming-table, for 
deep retirement and laborious study. Several years 
were subsequently devoted to visit the principal 
cities of Europe, for the avowed purpose of forming 
and cultivating a personal acquaintance with the 
most celebrated mathematicians and philosophers 
of the age. After having accomplished this object, 
he determined to settle at Paris, and pursue, with 
the utmost vigour, his philosophical researches. 
During this important period of his life, the mind 
of this great philosopher appears to have expe- 
rienced a change, no less remarkable than that 
which had appeared in his conduct. After passing 
through a most distressing process of almost uni- 
versal scepticism, it settled down, at length, into a 
solemn conviction of the great principles of moral 
and religious truth, and a fixed determination to 
employ the residue of life in their investigation. It 
was during the earlier stages of this mental process, 
while his mind was yet unsettled and sceptical, 
though anxiously inquiring after truth, that the 
first part of the celebrated ethical " Treatise on the 
Passions" was written, — a fact which will sufficiently 
account for the wide difference which cannot but be 
perceived between the earlier and later writings of 
Des Cartes, and which will also account for the 
sarcastic sneer of a modern infidel writer, who states, 
'? that Des Cartes began with doubting of every 



CHAP* IV. J OF DES CARTES. 499 

thing, and ended in believing that he had left 
nothing unexplained." His first treatise " On the 
Passions/' (to which he owed much of his celebrity,) 
was written in 1629 ; the second part, which is of 
far greater value, did not appear till a. d. 1646, 
a short time before his death. 

374. After having pursued, during several years, 
a train of moral and philosophical inquiries into the 
physical and natural proofs of the existence of God, 
the immortality of the soul, and its various modes of 
operation, Des Cartes gave to the world the results 
of those profound metaphysical speculations in a 
treatise, entitled " Philosophical Meditations on the 
First Philosophy," which was first published in 1633 ; 
in which were developed the elements of what has 
since been termed, the Cartesian Philosophy. About 
the same time, several tracts were produced by him 
on subjects connected with different departments 
of physical science, particularly on " Meteors," and 
on " Astronomy," or the System of the World, and 
on Optics. In consequence of these successive 
publications, the name of Des Cartes became cele- 
brated throughout Europe. His works were eagerly 
sought, and translated into almost all the European 
dialects. Schools were founded in which his philo- 
sophy was taught, and a vehement contest arose 
between the advocates and opponents of the Car^ 
tesian system. The Jesuits having effectually 
driven him from his native country, princes and 
sovereigns became anxious to secure to themselves 
the honour of patronizing this renowned philosopher. 
Attempts were first made by the States-General of 

kk 2 



500 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF DES CARTES. [PART IV. 

Holland to induce him to fix his residence in that 
country, which were in part successful; as it is 
known that some of his principal works were written 
and published there. These were, his treatises on 
" Mechanics, Dioptrics, and Geometry ;" his logical 
work, entitled " De Methodo ;" and his most cele- 
brated performance, " Principia Philosophise ;" all of 
which appeared between the years 1637 and 1641. 
Charles I. of England, promised him a liberal ap- 
pointment and efficient patronage ; but the com- 
mencement of the civil war, which terminated in the 
death of that unfortunate monarch, prevented his 
acceptance of these offers. At length female in- 
fluence prevailed ; Des Cartes yielded to the flat- 
tering solicitations of Christina, Queen of Sweden, 
who invited him, with many others, to her capital, 
for the purpose of forming there an academy of 
sciences, similar to those previously established in 
other European cities, and removed to Stockholm, 
A. d. 1649, where he died in the following year. 

375. The preceding are the principal facts con- 
nected with the personal history of Des Cartes; 
but few comparatively of his numerous writings 
have been specified. They relate to almost every 
subject connected with physical, intellectual, and 
moral science. From statements already made, it 
will appear that he ranks with the profoundest 
mathematicians of his age. In physics, as in intel- 
lectual philosophy, he was frequently diverted from 
the sober track of induction and experience, by his 
love of abstract speculation, and the stress laid on 
a priori reasonings ; but in the department of logic, 



CHAP. IV-3 CARTESIAN PHILOSOPHY. 501 

he rendered valuable service, by simplifying that 
which had been long perplexed, and reducing to a 
few intelligible principles, the rules to be observed 
in the investigation of truth. 



Section VII. 

SUMMARY VIEW OF THE CARTESIAN PHILOSOPHY. 

376. In taking a brief retrospect of the philosophy 
of Des Cartes, as far as relates to intellectual 
science, the topics may be arranged under three 
heads ; logic, metaphysics, and ethics. 

1. LOGIC 

This is chiefly contained in his " Dissertation on 
the Method of using Reason rightly in the Investi- 
gation of Truth." In that short but valuable treatise, 
the following general principles are illustrated and 
established, which at once commend themselves 
to our understandings by their reasonableness and 
practical utility, and prove how completely the 
author of such a logical system must have thrown 
off the trammels of the Scholastics. 1. That truth 
is to be the one great object pursued by the human 
mind in all its investigations. 2. That nothing is 
to be admitted as true in moral science, without 
evidence sufficient to convince every rational in- 
quirer; or, in the abstract sciences, without com- 
plete and absolute demonstration. 3. That, in the 



502 CARTESIAN PHILOSOPHY. [PART IV. 

investigation of truth, all prejudice and precipitancy 
of judgment are to be carefully avoided, by which 
the mind may be obstructed in its operations, and 
betrayed into false conclusions. 4. That difficulties 
and objections are not be shunned, but, on the con- 
trary, most fearlessly encountered ; and that it is the 
office of logic so to methodise and arrange them, 
that they may be fairly met and satisfactorily solved. 
5. That in all moral reasonings, arguments and 
evidences are to be brought forward in their natural 
order, beginning with the simplest and most self- 
evident principles ; and rising by degrees to the 
most complex and difficult deductions. 6. That no 
chasms be admitted in the argument ; but that all 
the successive steps be so closely connected, that the 
relation of each to the whole may be apparent. 
These general rules form the basis of the entire 
system of logic inculcated by the Cartesians, and it 
will be perceived that they are taken from the prac- 
tice of geometricians, and that their reception must 
be fatal to the domination of the schoolmen. The 
use and application of these principles in the in- 
vestigation of natural phenomena, and the pursuit 
of intellectual science, are distinctly pointed out; 
and it had been well if their inventor had inflexibly 
adhered to them in his own philosophical researches. 

II. METAPHYSICS. 

377. This division includes those speculations on 
the material universe and on the phenomena of 
mind, which form the characteristic features of the 
Cartesian philosophy. 



CHAP. IV.] CARTESIAN PHILOSOPHY. 503 

(1.) All substances, according to this system, may 
be comprehended under two heads — matter and 
mind : the essence of the former is extension ; of 
the latter, thought. Matter, as extended, must have 
a real existence ; and since extension applies to it 
universally, there can be in nature (that is, in the 
physical system of the universe) no vacuum: for 
every where must be found the essential qualities of 
matter ; — length, breadth, and thickness. Matter, 
considered with relation to its primary or elementary 
parts, is both indivisable and unmoveable ; and all 
the varieties of configuration it assumes, depend 
upon the motion communicated to them ; which 
motion consists in the removal of one body out of 
its own place into that of a second contiguous to 
it, and this into a third ; by which means it is 
propagated seriatim to the utmost boundaries of the 
universe. This motion was originally impressed on 
matter by God himself, and is regulated by certain 
fixed laws. 

(2.) On these data, Des Cartes founded his well- 
known theory of the vortices, supposed to occupy 
the vast regions of space ; which, as constituting 
the most curious and fanciful part of the Cartesian 
system, it will be proper briefly to explain. It was 
conceived, that the vast regions of space are filled 
with a fluid mass, portions of which are attached to 
the several celestial bodies. A vast quantity of this 
ethereal fluid revolves round the sun as the great 
centre of the solar system. Each planet has its own 
separate vortex, with constantly moves with the 
solid body to which it is attached, while at the same 



504 CARTESIAN PHILOSOPHY. [PART IV. 

time it forms also a part of the general vortex of 
the solar system. The satellites of the planets have 
also their lesser and interior vortices, which revolve 
round their primaries, together with the satellites 
themselves, in the same direction, and with greater 
or less velocities, according to their distances from 
the sun. With these exterior and interior vortices, 
the whole material system was imagined to be so 
completely filled, that no possibility existed of a 
vacuum ; since every particle in motion must occupy 
the place which another previously held, and thus 
move the entire system, as a drop of water, poured 
into a vessel, puts in motion the whole mass. — Such, 
according to the Cartesians, was the material uni- 
verse ; a space filled completely with indefinitely 
small corpuscles, all of which are in perpetual 
motion, and of grosser parts or masses of congre- 
gated particles, which compose the earth and 
planets. Upon this imaginative theory, Des Cartes 
has attempted, in his " Principia Philosophic," to 
explain all the ordinary and extraordinary pheno- 
mena of nature. 

(3.) The more interesting and important division 
of the Cartesian philosophy relates to the operations 
of mind, as distinguished from matter. To the 
honour of this great philosopher it is stated, that he 
was the first of all the mental philosophers, who 
clearly and distinctly pointed out the manner in 
which the understanding acts on itself, and acquires 
knowledge, by reflecting on its own internal pheno- 
mena. " Des Cartes," says Professor Stewart, " was, 
I think, the first who clearly saw that our idea of 



CHAP. IV.] CARTESIAN PHILOSOPHY. 505 

mind is not direct, but relative ; — relative to the 
various operations of which we are conscious. 
' What am I V he asks, in his second Meditation : — 
6 a thinking being ; that is, a being, doubting, know- 
ing, affirming, denying, consenting, refusing, sus- 
ceptible of pleasure and pain. Of all these things 
I might have had complete experience, without any 
previous acquaintance with the qualities and laws of 
matter ; and therefore it is impossible that the study 
of matter can avail me ought in the study of myself.' 
This accordingly is laid down by Des Cartes as a 
first principle in metaphysical science — that nothing 
comprehensible by the imagination can be at all 
subservient to the knowledge of the mind.*" Pro- 
ceeding on this principle, but reasoning from it in- 
correctly, he contends that there are certain innate 
ideas produced within us by the Great Author of 
our being — the seeds of which (so to speak) are 
primarily sown in the understanding by the Deity, 
but the knowledge of which is to be accounted 
a reflex act of the understanding. 

(4.) In speculating on the nature of the human 
soul, Des Cartes seems to have strangely blended 
the peculiarities of his physical system with more 
correct philosophical notions. After treating at 
length of the animal nature of the passions, and 
attempting to explain the manner in which they are 
physically excited to action, he proceeds to consider 
the soul of man, as both sensitive and rational — the 
conflict between the superior and inferior parts of 

* Stewart's Diss, ut sup. p. 92. Cartesii Meditat. Phil. ii. & iii. 



506 CARTESIAN PHILOSOPHY. [PART IV. 

our nature, being in reality a struggle between 
the sensitive part, or the animal spirits, and the 
rational or intellectual powers. By the result of 
this contest, every one, he imagined, might form a 
judgment respecting the strength or weakness of 
his soul : — if the passions reign, the body prepon- 
derates ; — if they are restrained, the soul occupies 
her due place in the system, and the rational part 
of our nature exerts the influence which it was 
intended to maintain. 

III. ETHICS. 

378. The moral system of Des Cartes is by no 
means clearly defined, though its prominent features 
may be inferred from the preceding sketch of his 
metaphysical speculations. Amidst many visionary 
theories and abstract speculations, some valuable 
principles are stated relative to the nature of virtue, 
the grounds of moral obligation, the relation in 
w r hich man stands to the Infinite Ruler of the uni- 
verse — his social duties — the government of his 
passions — his moral capabilities, and the perfection 
of his nature, as chiefly consisting in a moral resem- 
blance to the Deity. These are, however, mixed 
up with numerous speculations of a more doubtful 
and dangerous tendency. u On the whole," it is 
remarked by Dr. Enfield, " the Cartesian system 
appears to have been in part derived from the Grecian 
philosophy ; for it is easy to recognize the Platonic 
notion of innate ideas, and of the action of the soul 
on the body ; the Aristotelian notion of a plenum ; 
and the atomic system of Democritus and Epicurus, 



CHAP. IV.3 JURISPRUDENCE. 507 

in his vortices. Yet he must be confessed also to 
have discovered great depth of thought, much fer- 
tility of imagination, and unwearied diligence of 
research. He would, however, have occupied a 
more distinguished place among intellectual philo- 
sophers, if he had been less easily led astray by 
romantic conceptions and visionary hypotheses ; 
had he substituted experiment for theory ; and 
inductive reasonings for hypothetical conjectures." — 
(Vid. Enfield's Hist of Philos. Vol. II. p. 554.) 



Section VIII. 



of the principal writers on jurisprudence, who 

FLOURISHED DURING THE 16th & 17th CENTURIES. 

379. During the period which has just been re- 
viewed, a highly important branch of intellectual 
science was successfully cultivated by many who 
occupy no mean place in the republic of letters, 
though the limits of the present work will admit 
of little more than an enumeration of their names > 
and a cursory notice of their most celebrated 
writings. The department now referred to, is that 
which treats of the civil and social relations of man- 
kind ; a science to which various names have been 
given in modern times, but perhaps that of juris- 
prudence is the most appropriate and best under- 
stood. It was stated in a former section (241), 
that before the memorable sera of the revival of 



508 JURISPRUDENCE. [PART IV. 

letters, political science began to be cultivated, more 
just and enlightened views were entertained of the 
principles of government, and the nature of the 
relations subsisting between man and man; and 
this was enumerated among the causes which con- 
tributed to emancipate the human mind from its 
bondage. Tracing backward, therefore, to that 
eventful period, the origin of the science in ques- 
tion, it will be attempted to exhibit, at one view, 
and in chronological order, the train of political 
philosophers, who flourished between the Reforma- 
tion and the point at which this history terminates, 
— the commencement of the eighteenth century. 
This series commences with Machiavel, and termi- 
nates with Montesquieu. 

380. Machiavel was a contemporary of Luther, 
and, "like that great reformer, acquired, by the 
commanding superiority of his genius, an astonishing 
ascendancy over the minds of his followers ; " but in 
this alone does the resemblance appear; for in all 
other features of their intellectual character, scarcely 
can a greater contrast be imagined. 

Though comparatively destitute of learning, it 
was the good fortune of Machiavel to enjoy the 
splendid patronage of the house of Medicis, under 
whose auspices not a few of his numerous publica- 
tions made their first appearance. It falls not within 
the design of the present work to notice, either his 
dramatic performances or historical tracts, all of 
which afford indications of the mighty genius of 
their author. The books upon which his posthu- 
mous fame chiefly depends, and which entitle him to 



CHAP. IV. JURISPRUDENCE. 509 

rank among the intellectual philosophers of the age, 
are his " Discourses on the first Decade of Livy," 
which are full of moral and political reflections, and 
especially his most celebrated treatise, entitled " The 
Prince," in which he professes to lay down the 
maxims and rules of civil government, and describes, 
with prodigious energy of genius, the arts by which 
corrupt and arbitrary rulers may sustain their unjust 
authority. Widely different opinions have been 
formed of the design of this celebrated performance : 
some regarding it as a political satire, intended to 
excite abhorrence of despotism, and hold up tyrants 
to contempt, by exposing their secret machinations ; 
while others maintain, that his political maxims, 
infamous as they are, were seriously proposed ; 
and plead, in mitigation of his offence, the state of 
society in Italy at that period, and the prevailing 
errors of the times. But whatever diversity of 
opinion may exist with regard to the moral worth of 
this celebrated treatise, all must agree in doing 
homage to the transcendant talent it displays. " As 
an original and profound thinker," says Stewart, 
" the genius of Machiavel completely eclipses that 
of all his contemporaries. No writer, either in 
ancient or modern times, has ever united, in a 
more remarkable degree, a greater variety of the 
most dissimilar, and seemingly the most discordant 
gifts and attainments, a profound acquaintance 
with all those arts of dissimulation and intrigue 
which, in the petty cabinets of Italy, were then 
universally confounded with political wisdom — an 
imagination familiarized to the cool contempla- 



510 JURISPRUDENCE. [PART IV* 

tion of whatever is perfidious or atrocious in the 
history of conspirators and tyrants — combined with 
a graphical skill in holding up to laughter the com- 
paratively harmless follies of ordinary life." * 

381. Next to Machiavel, in the order of time, but 
far inferior in talent and reputation, stands Bodinus, 
an eminent French civilian, who flourished towards 
the close of the sixteenth century. " He was the 
first among the moderns who united a philosophical 
train of thinking with an extensive knowledge of 
jurisprudence and history." His most celebrated 
Work, entitled, De la Republique, contains much 
curious matter, and cannot fail to be read, even in 
the present advanced state of political science, and 
after so many highly philosophical treatises on the 
subject have appeared, with considerable interest. 
He is said, by a very competent witness, to have 
approached nearly, in some of his views of the 
philosophy of laws, to Lord Bacon, and, in his re- 
fined combination of facts, bears a strong resem- 
blance to Montesquieu." It is not the least of the 
qualities that reflect credit on the memory of 
Bodinus and his friend De Thou, that, in an in- 
tolerant age and country, they were not ashamed 
or afraid to maintain the principles of civil and 
religious liberty, and earnestly to recommend their 
universal adoption. 

382. The next, and by far the greatest of the 
writers of that age on political science, as well as 
almost every other subject connected with general 

* Stewart's Diss, ut sup. p* S3— 37. 



CHAP. IV.] JURISPRUDENCE. 511 

literature, was Grotius. Of the immense mass of 
knowledge accumulated by this renowned scholar, 
ample proof is afforded in his voluminous writings, 
which embrace an almost endless variety of subjects, 
critical, metaphysical, moral, and theological. His 
life was by no means that of a retired scholar ; for 
he acted an important part in public life ; — was some- 
times caressed, and sometimes persecuted by the 
civil authorities of his native country ; — sometimes 
entrusted with magisterial power, and sometimes 
doomed to tedious imprisonment : but neither 
prosperity nor adversity could abate his ardour or 
diminish his assiduity in the pursuit of knowledge* 
After a very eventful life, marked by an unusual 
succession of strange incidents, and an extraordinary 
degree of mental exertion, this " literary phoenix" 
died at Rostock, on the 28th of August, 1645. The 
book which has chiefly contributed to establish his 
reputation as a philosophical writer, is his well- 
known treatise, " De Jure Belli et Paris," which 
long continued to be regarded as a standard work 
on the subject of which it treats, in the principal 
universities of Europe, and is still held in high 
estimation. 

383. About the same time flourished, in the 
northern part of our island, the justly celebrated 
Buchanan, who, though best known as a scholar of 
prodigious attainment, may not improperly be classed 
with the civilians of his age, on account of several 
tracts on political science, written with all the 
vivacity and energy of his powerful mind. Among 
these, his dialogue, " De Jure Regni" acquired most 



512 JURISPRUDENCE. [PART IV. 

celebrity, on account of the then state of public 
affairs in the British empire. 

With this splendid Scottish luminary may be 
classed an English scholar, whose accumulation of 
knowledge far exceeded that of Buchanan, however 
inferior he might be in original genius. This was 
Selden, who flourished during the reigns of James I. 
Charles I. and the Commonwealth. He is distin- 
guished as an acute philologist, a learned antiquary, 
and a profound jurist. His principal work on the 
latter of these subjects treats of the u Law of Nations, 
according to the Jewish Polity," in which he has 
evinced much Rabbinical learning, combined with 
general political science. 

Hobbes, the philosopher of Malmsbury, properly 
belongs to the class of metaphysical writers, and as 
such will be more particularly noticed hereafter. 
Yet almost the whole of his far-famed productions 
bear, either directly or indirectly, on political 
science ; particularly his principal work, entitled, 
" Leviathan ;" his tracts, " De Cive" and " De Cor- 
pore Politico," which were chiefly written in defence 
of the royal cause, during the period of the Common- 
wealth, and in which political doctrines are main- 
tained scarcely less objectionable than the most 
obnoxious maxims of Machiavel himself. 

384. Puffendorf next occurs in the list of 
jurists, who flourished during the seventeenth cen- 
tury. This distinguished writer has been considered 
by some equal, and by others superior, to his illus- 
trious predecessor, Grotius. He followed closely in 
the same track, as is evident from the contents of 



CHAP, IV.3 JURISPRUDENCE. 513 

his most celebrated work, " De Jure Naturag et 
Gentium," which first appeared a.d. 1672. To the 
same class of writings belongs another treatise, com- 
posed by him at a later period of life, entitled, " De 
Officio Hominis et Civis," &c, which may perhaps 
more properly be considered as a methodized abridg- 
ment of his great work on " the Law of Nations," 
than an original production. These works, in 
conjunction with the before-mentioned treatise of 
Grotius, were, till of late years, in constant use as 
text-books in all our public schools. If these 
writings do not evince original and inventive 
genius, they must be acknowledged to display a clear 
discernment — a sound and accurate judgment — 
extensive, if not profound erudition — and, which is 
infinitely more important, a reverence for religion, 
as the basis of all social virtue and happiness. 

385. Passing over Leibnitz and Locke, (both of 
whom will be distinctly and separately noticed here- 
after,) it is only requisite to glance at the celebrated 
author of the *? Spirit of Laws," who, though he 
belongs more properly to the eighteenth century, 
demands a cursory notice, as the founder of the 
new school of political science. Montesquieu car- 
ried on most successfully the project which Bodinus 
and Bacon had commenced, — that of rearing a super- 
structure of juridical science on the basis of philo- 
sophy and history. " Instead of confining himself, 
after the example of his predecessors, to the inter- 
pretation of one part of the Roman code by another, 
he studied the spirit of these laws, in the political 
views of their authors, and in the peculiar circum- 



514 METAPHYSICAL WRITERS. [PART IV. 

stances of that extraordinary race. He combined 
the science of law with the history of political 
society. Convinced that the general principles of 
human nature are every where the same, he searched 
for new lights among the subjects of every govern- 
ment, and the inhabitants of every climate ; and 
while he thus opened inexhaustible and unthought- 
of resources to the student of jurisprudence, he 
indirectly marked out to the legislator the extent 
and limits of his power, and recalled the attention 
of the philosopher from abstract and useless theories, 
to the only authentic monuments of the history of 
mankind." * 



Section IX. 



ON THE METAPHYSICAL WRITERS OF THE SEVEN- 
TEENTH CENTURY. 

386. It was scarcely possible that the profound 
researches of Bacon into the phenomena of the 
human mind, and the ingenious speculations of Des 
Cartes, should not inspire- many of their contem- 
poraries and successors with a desire to prosecute 
the same train of investigations. Many there were 
at that period, who, though characterized by a great 
diversity of talent, and attached to different systems, 
pursued w r ith ardour this branch of intellectual 
science. Some of these belonged to the sceptic, or 

* Stewart's Diss, ut sup. pp. 144, 145. 



CHAP. IV.3 METAPHYSICAL WRITERS. 515 

rather the infidel school of metaphysicians, at the 
head of whom were Hobbes and Gassendi. Others 
were amongst the ablest and most zealous advocates 
of revealed truth ; such as Pascal; Barrow, Cud- 
worth, and Clarke, with many others of scarcely 
inferior name, who brought their commanding 
talents, and all the energies of their powerful minds, 
to bear with effect on the strong holds of infidelity 
and scepticism ; and a few may be regarded as of 
a neutral class, immersed in metaphysical abstrac- 
tions, and intent alone upon the establishment of 
some favourite hypothesis, in connexion with the 
philosophy of mind. 

387. In attempting a rapid sketch of the principal 
metaphysicians of the seventeenth century, (exclu- 
sive of Bacon and Des Cartes, who have been already 
noticed, and Locke and Leibnitz, who will be sepa- 
rately considered hereafter,) we shall commence 
with those of the infidel school. 

(1.) The founder of this school was Hobbes, the 
well-known author of * Leviathan" and many other 
tracts on subjects connected with political and moral 
science — a man of original genius and extraordinary 
vigour of mind, an acute and powerful reasoner, 
and a most profound metaphysician : but, unhappily, 
these qualities served only to render him more in- 
jurious to society, by the influence of his opinions 
and writings. The work in which his metaphysical 
system is most fully developed, is, his " Treatise on 
Human Nature," which is generally acknowledged 
to be the ablest production of his pen, though his 
** Leviathan" may have been more popular. In this 

L L 2 



516 METAPHYSICAL WRITERS. [>ART IV. 

and other philosophical tracts, he strenuously op- 
poses the Cartesian doctrine of ideas, and maintains 
that all our knowledge is to be attributed to sensa- 
tion alone ; thus excluding mind from the universe, 
and reducing the human understanding to a refined 
species of material mechanism. To this philosopher 
may also be traced that scheme of fatalism, which, 
in modern times, has been disguised under the 
specious name of philosophical necessity, on which 
subject Hobbes carried on a controversy with some 
of the most powerful reasoners of his age. In 
the opinion of Professor Stewart, both Locke and 
Hume have been greatly indebted to the metaphy- 
sical speculations of Hobbes ; the former, for some 
of his most valuable observations on the origin and 
association of ideas ; the latter, for his disquisitions 
on the relation between cause and effect, as well as 
his views of philosophical necessity. Pernicious as 
were the opinions and writings of the philosopher 
of Malmsbury, when first promulgated, they ob- 
tained many admirers ; and their influence is felt, 
especially on the continent of Europe, to the pre- 
sent day. 

(2.) Gassendi has been already mentioned in con- 
nexion with physical science (§ 279.) ; he is now to 
be regarded as an intellectual philosopher, in which 
department his talents were principally employed. 
His metaphysical notions accorded in almost every 
respect with those of Hobbes ; especially with 
reference to the origin of ideas ; for it is laid down 
by him as a fundamental principle on this subject, 
** that there is not a single object of the under- 



CHAP. IV.^ METAPHYSICAL WRITERS. 517 

standing, which may not be ultimately analyzed 
into sensible images." On this ground, he was 
one of the first and most determined opponents 
of the intellectual philosophy of Des Cartes, who 
had maintained a contrary hypothesis. Gassendi 
was a great admirer of the writings of Lord Bacon, 
from which he is said to have imbibed a taste 
for the Epicurean philosophy, though it is not 
easy to imagine what part of those writings could 
have produced such a result. The works of Gas- 
sendi were collected, after his death, into six folio 
volumes ; three of which are on metaphysical sub- 
jects ; the fourth, on astronomy ; the fifth contains 
biographical memoirs of celebrated mathematicians ; 
and the last, his literary correspondence. 

(3.) Spinoza must unquestionably be referred 
to the same class of infidel philosophers. He was 
by birth a Jew, but ultimately expelled from that 
communion on account of his reputed atheism. 
In early life, he was a zealous Cartesian ; and one 
of his first literary productions was entitled, " a 
Geometrical Demonstration of the Principles of the 
Cartesian Philosophy." But at a more advanced 
period he withdrew his attention, in a great mea- 
sure, from mathematical and physical science, (in 
both which his attainments were of no ordinary 
kind,) to indulge in daring speculations on matter 
and spirit — on the universe and its author — 
speculations by which he was betrayed into the 
grossest errors and absurdities. A crude hypo- 
thesis, (for it scarcely deserves to be designated 
a system,) characterized alike by its impiety and 



518 METAPHYSICAL WRITERS. [PART IV. 

absurdity, which still continues to bear the name of 
its inventor, was propagated by this theorist, and 
obtained many followers. It was a species of Pan- 
theism in words, but in reality, latent atheism. It 
chiefly consisted in representing the Deity and the 
material universe as the same thing, — and all events, 
physical and moral, good and evil, as necessarily 
resulting from the same all-pervading cause. The 
ethics of Spinoza were less objectionable than his 
metaphysical creed ; but, as founded on false prin- 
ciples, however specious their form, they could not 
fail to be pernicious and' dangerous. The prin- 
cipal works of Spinoza, in which his metaphysical 
tenets are developed, are entitled, " Tractatus 
Theologico Politicus," and " Etheca Geometrica 
Demonstrata ;" the latter of which was written in 
advanced life, and first published after his death. 

(4.) The three above-mentioned metaphysical 
writers may be contemplated as founders of new 
sects in philosophy. Many might be added, belong- 
ing to the sceptic, if not the avowedly infidel school 
of mental philosophers, who flourished during the 
period under review, It will however suffice to 
mention, and that in the most cursory manner, three 
who are distinguished from the rest, either by the 
celebrity of their writings, or the extent of their 
erudition. Montaigne, whose " Essays" are chiefly 
valuable, as a lively practical exhibition of the phi- 
losophy of mind — a -■ work/' says Stewart, " unique 
in its kind, valuable in an eminent degree as an 
authentic record of many interesting facts relative 
to human nature; but more valuable by far, as 



CHAP. IV/] METAPHYSICAL WRITERS. 519 

holding up a mirror in which every individual, if he 
does not see his own image, will at least occasion- 
ally perceive so many traits of resemblance to it, as 
can scarcely fail to invite his curiosity to a more 
careful review of himself.*" Huetius, the friend 
of the learned Bochart, and himself a man of 
extensive erudition, though the author of a valuable 
defence of the christian religion, (entitled " Demon- 
stratio Evangelical) it is evident, from one of his post- 
humous works, " on the Weakness of the Human 
Understanding," which is in reality but a laboured 
apology for scepticism, that he can only be classed 
with those who have perverted metaphysical science 
to promote the cause of infidelity. Bayle, the 
learned author of the Biographical, Historical, and 
Critical Dictionary, was also the author of many 
tracts on the most abstruse metaphysical questions, 
written at different periods of his active life; some 
of which appeared in literary journals conducted by 
himself, and others in separate publications. They 
are chiefly controversial, and in almost every in- 
stance deeply tinged with the spirit of infidelity. 

388. Malebranche is a writer of a much more 
interesting kind than any of those just enumerated; 
inasmuch as his mind seems to have been imbued 
with a piety, which chastened, and, in a great mea- 
sure, corrected his metaphysical errors. Des Cartes' 
f* Treatise on Man" first inspired him with ardour 
on philosophical subjects, and gave that bias to his 
intellectual pursuits which manifested itself through 

* Stewart's Diss. p. 75. 



520 METAPHYSICAL WRITERS. [jPART IV. 

life. The work by which he is best known, and 
which gave occasion to much controversy among 
metaphysicians, is entitled the " Search after 
Truth ;" a work which combines great abstraction 
of thought with a lively fancy and glowing elo- 
quence, and affords " ample illustrations both of the 
strength and weakness of the human understand- 
ing." The distinctive feature of his metaphysical 
system is, that the Deity is the efficient and immediate 
cause of every effect in the universe, or, to adopt his 
own language, cc that we perceive all things in God J 9 

Of his great antagonist, Anthony Arnauld, it is 
only requisite to state here, that he combated most 
powerfully and successfully the metaphysical errors 
of Malebranche, in an elaborate work on " True 
and False Ideas ;" in which principles are maintained 
similar to those advocated by Locke, in his cele- 
brated " Essay on the Understanding ;" and also 
that he was the author of a valuable work on dia- 
lectics, entitled " The Art of Thinking," since known 
by the name of the Port Royal Logic. 

389. It is gratifying to the friends of revealed 
truth to perceive, that there has never been a 
period in which genius, and talents, and learning, 
have not been employed in its defence, far superior 
to the proudest attainments of its mightiest adver- 
saries. This remark will eminently apply to the 
brilliant intellectual aera, which is now passing under 
review ; the aera of Pascal, and Barrow, and Cud- 
worth ; of Leibnitz, and Locke, and Newton. Though 
the first of these did not professedly write on meta- 
physical subjects, yet his celebrated u Thoughts 



CHAP. IV-3 METAPHYSICAL WRITERS. 521 

on Religion" are full of profound reflections and 
sublime reasonings on topics of a highly intellectual 
character. The philosophical works of Barrow, 
no less than his polemical writings, reflect the 
highest credit on the genius of their author, and 
sufficiently justify the eulogium pronounced on 
his memory, " that he was second alone to Newton ; 
and whether treating of philosophical, moral, or 
theological subjects, he seems always to bring to 
them a mind which feels itself superior to the 
occasion, and which, in contending with the greatest 
difficulties, " puts forth but half its strength.'** 
Cudwortk was the author of two erudite works, 
entitled " The Intellectual System," and " Immu- 
table Morality," both of which were intended and 
well calculated to check the sceptical spirit of the 
age in which they were written. In the former 
of these learned and laborious performances, the 
speculations of the infidel philosophers of his day 
are distinctly traced to the atheistical sects of 
antiquity, of which a full and elaborate account 
is given. In the latter, a powerful and most 
convincing argument is maintained on the immu- 
tability of virtue, and its eternal obligation, in 
opposition to the systems which then prevailed, 
by which virtue and vice were confounded, the 
principles of morality subverted, and all moral 
distinctions annihilated. Samuel Clarke flourished 
at a somewhat later period, and is chiefly to 
be regarded, in metaphysics, as the opponent of 

* Stewart's Diss, ut sup. p. d9. 



522 SKETCH OF THE LITERARY [PART IV. 

Leibnitz, on the question of Liberty and Necessity ; 
but he may not improperly be mentioned in this 
place, as one of the acutest metaphysicians of his 
age, and a powerful combatant of the sceptical 
philosophy; especially in his admirable discourses 
on " the Being and Attributes of God," and on " the 
Unchangeable Obligations of Natural Religion." 
To the preceding distinguished names might be 
added, those of Archbishops Bramhall and Tenison, 
Wilkins and Cumberland, and Henry More, with 
many others, who took a part in the metaphysico- 
theological controversies of that intellectual age. 



Section X. 

SKETCH OF THE LITERARY HISTORY OF LEIBNITZ. 

390. Among the many scientific and intellectual 
philosophers, who flourished during the latter 
portion of the seventeenth century, Leibnitz occu- 
pies no subordinate place. It is somewhat difficult 
to determine among whom he should be classed, 
as his researches were directed to almost every 
department of physical and moral science, and his 
numerous writings include almost every subject of 
human investigation. 

This great philosopher was born at Leipsic, on 
the 23d of June, 1646. In early youth, though 
insatiable in the pursuit of knowledge, he disco- 
vered no very marked preference to any one depart- 
ment of literature. His reading was most extensive ; 
so excellent was his memory, that whatever he read 



CHAP. IV.3 HISTORY OF LEIBNITZ. 523 

became his own ; and, consequently, his accumulation 
of knowledge was rapid and great. But when he 
had attained his fifteenth year, he manifested a 
decided partiality to mathematical studies, and 
wrote several theses on subjects connected with the 
abstract sciences, which acquired him great cele- 
brity in the university of Leipsic. About the same 
time, he renounced the Aristotelian, in favour of the 
Cartesian philosophy, the latter of which systems 
had as yet made little progress in Germany. In 
1666, he published his first treatise, the object of 
which was to shew how universal arithmetic might 
be applied to other sciences ; and in the same year, 
his " Mathematical Demonstration of the Existence 
of God," made its first appearance, which was most 
certainly no ordinary achievement for a youth who 
had just attained his twentieth year. 

391. Having then in prospect the legal pro- 
fession, the attention of Leibnitz was naturally 
directed to the study of law. Several of his next 
publications related to jurisprudence ; one of which 
introduced him to the friendship and patronage of 
the Elector of Mentz, by whom he was employed, 
for a short time, as private secretary. But nothing 
could divert his attention from the mathematics 
and philosophy. His flattering secular prospects 
were gladly renounced, and the determination fixe v d 
to devote his life to literary studies. The first of 
his tracts on natural philosophy, entitled " A Theory 
of Concrete Motion," was presented to the Royal 
Society of London ; and his second, on the " Theory 
of Abstract Motion," to the Academy of Sciences, 



524 SKETCH OF THE LITERARY [PART IV. 

at Paris; of both which philosophical institutions 
he had the honour to be elected a member. These 
were successively followed by numerous papers on 
mathematical and physical subjects, most of which 
have been preserved in a literary journal, published 
at Leipsic, under the title of " Acta Eruditorum." 
(§ 262.) At the same time, this indefatigable and 
almost universal genius was employed in preparing, 
at the request of the Duke of Lunenburg, a 
" History of the House of Brunswick ; " several 
works on " The Law of Nations ; " and some 
metaphysical tracts on " Knowledge, Truth, Ideas, 
Nature," &c. &c. 

392. Passing over that remarkable fact con- 
nected with the literary history of Leibnitz, which 
relates to the invention of the differential calculus, 
(the particulars of which have been already detailed, 
§ 264 — 266,) we shall advance to that period of his 
life, in which he was chiefly occupied with meta- 
physical speculations and theological controversies. 

In 1695, he published, in a Parisian journal, a 
specimen of a new system of physics, in which he 
first intimated those peculiar doctrines relative to 
the connexion between the body and mind, which 
were afterwards more fully developed, and charac- 
terize his metaphysical system. This was followed 
by a treatise, entitled " Thoughts on Locke's Essay 
on the Human Understanding," then recently 
published. In this tract Leibnitz first appears as 
the antagonist of our great philosopher, and combats 
especially those parts of his celebrated work, which 
relate to innate ideas. The next production of 



CHAP. IV J HISTORY OF LEIBNITZ. 525 

his pen on metaphysical subjects, was a defence of 
his favourite doctrine of the pre-established har- 
mony, in reply to the animadversions which Bayle 
and others had made upon it in literary journals. 
About the same period, his active mind was also 
employed in polemic theology ; as is evident from 
two controversial tracts, — one, " A Logical Defence 
of the Holy Trinity," written against the Socinians ; 
and the other, " on Human Liberty and Predesti- 
nation," against the Remonstrants. 

893. But his principal work, the production of 
his later years, and that in which his philosophical 
opinions were more fully developed, remains to be 
noticed. This was entitled, " Theodicea, or a Dis- 
sertation on the Goodness of God, the Liberty of 
Man, and the Origin of Good and Evil." This 
celebrated treatise was first printed in 1710, and 
made a great stir amongst the metaphysicians of 
that day. It evinced an immense store of erudition, 
a mind well disciplined to abstract logical reasoning, 
a lively imagination, and a highly cultivated taste ; 
but at the same time, it discovered a love of novelty 
and fondness for speculation unworthy of a sound 
philosopher, and wholly at variance with the prin- 
ciples of inductive reasoning. By these metaphysical 
and polemic writings, he became involved in weari- 
some controversies with some of the most enlightened 
intellectual philosophers of that brilliant age ; among 
whom were Locke and Newton, Clarke and Bayle, 
with many others of inferior name. The details of 
these intellectual combats, on subjects the most ab- 
struse and difficult that perhaps have ever occupied 



526 SUMMART VIEW OF THE [PART IV. 

the human understanding, will be chiefly found 
in the volume of his works which contains his cor- 
respondence with learned men; and which, while 
they excite our admiration of the powers of genius 
exerted in their discussion, convince us that there 
are topics, about which the busy and inquisitive 
mind of man may sometimes be employed, in the 
investigation of which the mightiest intellects are 
but as little children. This indefatigable writer 
exhausted his latest energies in these abstruse specu- 
lations, and expired on the 14th November, 1716, 
in the seventieth year of his age. 



Section XI. 

SUMMARY VIEW OF THE PHILOSOPHY OF LEIBNITZ. 

394. Leibnitz did not compose any systematic 
treatise on philosophy ; but his opinions may be 
gathered from his numerous writings, composed at 
different periods of life. The volume, in which 
his metaphysical system is most distinctly stated, is 
his " Theodicea," to which a reference was made in 
the last section ; from which, therefore, the following 
summary will be chiefly taken. It is of the more 
importance that the distinguishing features of the 
philosophy of Leibnitz be attentively marked, 
because of the influence it excited long after the 
death of its illustrious founder. While the meta- 
physics of Locke may be considered as laying the 
foundation of a new school of intellectual philosophy 



CHAP, ivj PHILOSOPHY OF LEIBNITZ. 527 

in Britain, which has subsequently spread over a 
great part of the world, those of Leibnitz must also 
be acknowledged to have influenced, in no incon- 
siderable degree, the speculations and researches of 
most of the intellectual philosophers — Kant himself 
not excepted. To the opinions and writings of 
Leibnitz, in the judgment of Professor Stewart, is 
chiefly to be attributed the contrast between the 
continental philosophy, and the contemporary sys- 
tems, which have sprung up in our own island. 

395. On the nature of ideas, and the manner in 
which they are produced, there is no material dif- 
ference between Leibnitz and his illustrious pre- 
decessor, Des Cartes, who had himself derived his 
notions on this subject from the Platonic school. 
(§ 191.) — Nor is it easy to mark a difference between 
the opinions of both Des Cartes and Leibnitz, and 
those of Locke, except in words : for Leibnitz, when 
writing on the origin of ideas, asserts, "that there is 
nothing in the understanding which has not been 
present to the senses, but the understanding itself ; 
and Locke, in nearly similar terms, writes thus : — 
" External objects furnish the mind with ideas of 
sensible qualities ; and the mind furnishes the under- 
standing with ideas of its own operations." This 
cannot therefore be considered as forming a distinc- 
tive feature of the philosophy of Leibnitz ; and those 
which are properly such, may be classed under four 
heads — his theory respecting Monads ; his doctrine 
of the Pre-established Harmony; his scheme of 
Optimism ; and his application of the " Law of 



528 SUMMARY VIEW OF THE £PART IV. 

Continuity" to the phenomena of mind as well as 
of matter. 

I MONADS. 

396. Having imbibed the Cartesian notion of a 
plenum, and conceiving that the entire universe is 
filled with indivisible and uncompounded particles, 
he was led thereby to the fanciful hypothesis, that all 
space is replenished with a kind of substances called 
monads ; by which he seems to have meant elementary 
active principles of nature, each of which is necessarily 
distinct from and independent of every other in the 
universe ; but all of which derived their existence 
from God, the Great Supreme ; and only self-existent 
monad. After all that Leibnitz has written on the 
subject of these mysterious substances, and all the 
explanations of his theory attempted by subsequent 
commentators, it is scarcely possible to attach any 
definite idea to the term, if any thing is intended by 
it, but the ultimate particles, of which the material 
universe is composed ; in which case, it will appear 
to be but a modification of the ancient atomic philo- 
sophy. Yet it should seem, that this theoretical 
philosopher conceived of these monads as something 
different both from matter and spirit. They are not 
material, because he denied to them the properties 
of extension, durability, inertness, and other essential 
properties of matter. They are not spiritual, because 
he neither considered them as animated or rational. 
So attached was Leibnitz to this favourite hypo- 
thesis, that it seems to have pervaded his whole 



CHAP. IV.]] PHILOSOPHY OF LEIBNITZ. 529 

metaphysical system ; and in some instances he ap- 
pears to have been betrayed by it into a boldness of 
speculation approaching to profanity ; as when he 
asserts " that the Eternal Geometrician" (meaning 
thereby the Omnipotent Creator) is constantly em- 
ployed in solving this problem : <e The state of a 
single monad being given, to determine its past, 
present, and future state throughout the universe." 

2. PRE-ESTABLISHED HARMONY. 

397. Before the time of Des Cartes and Leib- 
nitz, the opinion had generally obtained, that the 
mind and body acted really and physically on each 
other, though the mode of their reciprocal action 
was confessedly unknown. Des Cartes had main- 
tained, that their nature and properties were so 
dissimilar, so contrary to each other, that this was 
utterly impossible, and therefore referred all mental 
action immediately to the influence and agency of 
God. Leibnitz carried this idea still farther, and 
contended that the human mind and body were two 
independent, but correspondent agents ; which, like 
two machines, were so nicely adjusted to each other, 
as to appear to act in concert; as if two clocks 
were so constructed by a skilful artificer, as that, 
though wholly unconnected with each other, one 
should point to the true time, and the other strike 
the successive hours. This singular doctrine is thus 
stated by Leibnitz himself in his " Theodicea" — " I 
cannot help coming into this notion, that God created 
the soul in such a manner, at first, that it should 
represent within itself all the simultaneous changes 

M M 



530 SUMMARY VIEW OF THE £PART IV. 

in the body ; and has so made the body that it must 
of itself do what the soul wills ;" and in another 
place, " Every thing goes on in the soul, as if it 
had no body ; and every thing proceeds in the body 
as if it had no soul." Hence he was led to speak 
of the soul of man as a spiritual automaton, in dis- 
tinction from the disciples of Hobbes, Gassendi, and 
Spinoza, who represented it as material ; a machine, 
however, so regulated by necessary, pre-ordained, 
and immutable laws, that no operation of the mind, 
nor any event in the universe, could possibly have 
been different from what it is. In a word, this 
great philosopher conceived, both of the corporeal 
and intellectual parts of man, as alike impelled by 
necessary causes, as exquisite pieces of mechanism 
constructed by the Divine Artificer, wound up and 
put in motion by the same power, and proceeding 
harmoniously in the performance of their several 
functions, though without any dependance on each 
other, or any reciprocal influence whatever. 

3. OPTIMISM. 

398. From the hypothesis briefly stated in the 
last paragraph, viewed in connexion with a firm 
belief in the being and attributes of God, a third 
distinguishing principle of the philosophy of Leib- 
nitz obviously arose, viz. his scheme of optimism ; 
which, in several respects, differs materially from 
that which had been previously obtained. Since, 
according to the doctrine of the pre-established 
harmony, all events in the physical and moral 
world resulted from the action of necessary causes, 



CHAP. IV/] PHILOSOPHY OF LEIBNITZ. 531 

operating mechanically, if the Being, by whom this 
wondrous mechanism was constructed and pre- 
arranged, be infinitely wise and good ; it followed 
that u whatever is, is best" The particular modi- 
fication of optimism, for which Leibnitz contends, 
may be clearly gathered from the allegory with 
which he concludes one of the books of his " Theo- 
dicea" in which " he represents Tarquin as com- 
plaining of his lot, first to Apollo, then to Jupiter ; 
and is at length satisfied with his fate, by being 
introduced into the palace of the Destinies, and 
shewn that of all possible volitions, with their train 
of necessary consequences, that which led to his 
crime and fall, was, upon the whole, the best" It 
is easy to perceive, that this scheme involves the 
notion of fatalism in its grossest and most offensive 
form, that it is entirely subversive of moral agency 
and responsibility, and that it obliterates all dis- 
tinctions between virtue and vice. How far this 
alarming result may have been counteracted or 
modified by the religious feelings and principles 
of the illustrious advocate of this scheme, we pretend 
not to determine; but assuredly " nothing could 
tend more directly, by a short and demonstrative 
process, to the utter annihilation of all moral dis- 
tinctions." 

IV. LAW OF CONTINUITY. 

399. Another distinguishing feature of the philo- 
sophy of Leibnitz, to which he was led by his pro- 
pensity to " a priori" reasonings, and the habit of 
generalization on all philosophical subjects, consists 
m m 2 



532 SUMMARY VIEW OF THE [PART IV. 

in his universal application of the "law of continuity ? 
This term has long since been familiar to natural 
philosophers, and has been generally admitted with 
reference to physical science. It is used to express 
that unbroken order, which pervades the system of 
the universe ; so that no change takes place sud- 
denly, but all is accomplished by infinitely small 
degrees. It has been shewn, for example, in the 
science of dynamics, that bodies do not pass instantly 
from one direction into another, but describe a 
greater or less curve in their transition from place 
to place. But whatever may be the conclusions to 
which scientific and experimental philosophers have 
been led by their minute observation of natural 
phaenomena, it may be questioned whether the prin- 
ciple will admit of the universal application for 
which Leibnitz and his followers have strenuously 
contended. By him it was asserted that this is an 
eternal and immutable law of nature, applicable no 
less to the phaenomena of mind, than to those of 
matter. In numerous passages of his writings, 
Leibnitz refers to this as an indisputable principle 
in metaphysical science. On this ground he main- 
tains that there cannot be in an intelligent being an 
entire, and least of all, a sudden cessation of 
thought; — that there can be no such thing as 
death, but merely a succession of changes of con- 
dition; — and that there is a perfect gradation 
throughout the universe : so that the innumerable 
classes and orders of beings form an unbroken line, 
a continuous scale of existences, descending from the 
Deity to the lowest species of unorganized matter. 



CHAP. IV J PHILOSOPHY OF LEIBNITZ. 533 

Applying the same principle to the history of human 
improvement, and the progress of science, it is 
maintained, that the human mind has advanced, and 
is still advancing — not per saltum — but, to adopt 
the language of mathematicians, by innumerable 
infinitesimal steps, towards perfection in knowledge, 
till it attain the highest elevation of which created 
intelligence is capable. The great metaphysical 
argument by which this theory is sustained, is, 6i that 
it is in the nature of things impossible that any body 
or substance, whether corporeal or spiritual, should 
be at the same indivisible instant in two different 
states— that of motion and that of rest." It falls 
not within the plan of the present work to discuss 
these philosophical opinions, but merely to record 
them as curious speculations, which may be dis- 
tinctly traced to Leibnitz as their author, and 
characterizing his philosophical system.* 



Section XII. 

SKETCH OF THE LITERARY HISTORY OF LOCKE. 

400. The present retrospect of intellectual science 
will close with a brief notice of the life and writings 
of an individual who towers far above all his prede- 

* For a more detailed account of these several hypotheses, 
the reader is referred, with much pleasure, to the second part 
of the admirable Dissertation of Dugald Stewart, and the notes 
appended to that dissertation, in which the principal arguments 
for and against these metaphysical theories are stated, with 



534 LITERARY HISTORY OF LOCKE. [PART IV. 

cessors and contemporaries in this department of 
literature, and who was the means of effecting a 
mighty revolution in the opinions of mankind on 
moral and metaphysical subjects, the effects of which 
are still apparent, and will probably continue to be 
felt through all succeeding ages. This truly philo- 
sophical writer may justly be considered as the 
founder of a new and more enlightened school of 
intellectual philosophy, which, having originated in 
Britain, has gradually diffused itself over the greater 
part of the civilized world. Considering the period 
in which he wrote, and the slender advances then 
made in moral science, he must be acknowledged to 
have achieved a work of no ordinary magnitude, 
and most deservedly ranks highest among the logical, 
metaphysical, and political reformers of mankind. 
It is obvious that both the nature and limits of the 
present work do not admit of an extended review 
of his intellectual system, and still less can it be ex- 
pected to comprehend a discussion of its comparative 
merits. All that will be attempted in these con- 
cluding pages, is to present an outline of his literary 
history, and to glance at some of the more promi- 
nent features of his philosophy. 

401. John Locke was born at Wrington, in 
Somersetshire, a.d. 1632. He was educated at 
Westminster School, and entered of Christ Church 
College, Oxford, in 165.1. While yet an under- 
graduate, he acquired great distinction by his 



a precision and beauty, to which perhaps it would be difficult 
to find a parallel in our language. P. 37—59. 



CHAP. IV.] LITERARY HISTORY OF LOCKE. 535 

progress in polite literature. His collegiate edu- 
cation having been completed, he devoted himself 
to the study of medicine, intending to practise as 
a physician; and his distinguished attainments in 
that science, at an early period of life, may be 
inferred, from the honourable mention made of him 
by Sydenham, in one of his medical treatises, 
published a. d. 1676. To his skill in medicine, 
Locke was indebted for his introduction to the 
friendship and patronage of the Earl of Shaftes- 
bury, and many other persons of talent and dis- 
tinction. By his perusal of the writings of Lord 
Bacon and Des Cartes, he was led to renounce the 
logic of Aristotle, which still continued to be taught 
in the English universities, and adopt the more 
rational method of philosophizing suggested by the 
author of the Novum Organum. It was about 
this period, that the first rude sketch was framed 
of his celebrated Essay on the Human Under- 
standing, the occasion of which has been related 
by himself with circumstantial fidelity, in the Pre- 
fatory Epistle to that far-famed work.* The design 

* " Five or six friends, meeting at my chamber, and dis- 
coursing on a subject very remote from this, found themselves 
quickly at a stand, by the difficulties that rose on every side. 
After we had awhile puzzled ourselves, without coming any 
nearer a resolution of those doubts which perplexed us, it came 
into my thoughts that we took a wrong course, and that, before 
we set ourselves upon inquiries of that nature, it was necessary 
to examine our own abilities, and see what objects our under- 
standings were and were not fitted to deal with. This I 
proposed to the company, who all readily assented, and there- 
upon it was agreed that this should be our first inquiry. Some 



536 LITERARY HISTORY OF LOCKE. £PART IV. 

appears to have been formed of writing an analytical 
treatise on the philosophy of mind, and some mate- 
rials were prepared for that purpose as early as 
1670; but the political troubles in which he was 
involved, in common with his illustrious patron, 
the Earl of Shaftesbury, diverted him from his 
purpose, or rather induced him to suspend its 
execution, till a more auspicious aera should arrive. 

402. The persecutions of the Nonconformists in 
England, and of the Protestants on the continent, 
led this enlightened author to direct his attention 
to the important subject of Religious Toleration. 
His admirable treatise on this subject was first 
published in 1689, and contains principles the most 
just and liberal on a subject then little understood 
by any denomination of the Christian world, most 
of whom were ready in their turn to justify as well 
as practise religious persecution. This important 
tract, which obtained for its author the highest 
reputation abroad, though at its first appearance 
it was little regarded at home, was followed by 
several others on political subjects, among which 
may be mentioned two " on Government," first 



hasty and undigested thoughts on a subject I had never before 
considered, which I set down against our first meeting, gave 
the first entrance into this discourse, which, having been thus 
begun by chance, was continued by intreaty, written by inco- 
herent parcels, and after long intervals of neglect, resumed 
again as my humour or occasions permitted, and at last in a 
retirement, where an attendance on my health gave leisure, 
it was brought into that order thou now seest it." p. vii. foL 
edit. 



CHAP. IV/] LITERARY HISTORY OF LOCKE. 537 

published in 1690, and several " on Currency," and 
other questions connected with political economy. 
His valuable work on Education next appeared 
in 1693, which was quickly followed by a treatise 
on " the Reasonableness of Christianity," which in- 
volved him in a controversy with the deistical 
writers of his age. To their opposition we are 
indebted for a judicious vindication of his former 
treatise, and some other polemic writings. 

403. It is not, however, on any of these pro- 
ductions, excellent as they are in their kind, that 
the reputation of Locke, as an intellectual phi- 
losopher, principally rests ; nor does he appear, in 
any of them, to have exerted the utmost force of 
his genius. While resident on the continent, 
during the exile of the Earl of Shaftesbury, to 
whose fortunes he had attached himself on a prin- 
ciple of gratitude, Locke first published, in a literary 
journal, of which the celebrated Le Clerc was 
editor, an abridgment of his " Essay on the Under- 
standing," probably with the express design of 
calling the attention of mental philosophers to 
speculations then novel and untried, and, in many 
respects, at variance with generally received opi- 
nions. The leisure which he enjoyed at this period 
of voluntary exile from his native country, enabled 
him to prosecute, with greater vigour and success, 
the important work which he had so long medi- 
tated, and which was put to the press soon after 
his return to England, at the memorable aera of 
the Revolution. After having employed at least 
nine years in digesting and revising it, this truly 



538 LITERARY HISTORY OF LOCKE. [PART IV. 

philosophical Essay (of which a brief abstract will be 
given in the next section), was first published 
a.d. 1690, in one folio volume; and it will be ad- 
mitted, even by those who do not fully subscribe 
to his metaphysical creed, that the date of its publi- 
cation constitutes an important aera in the history 
of intellectual science. During the latter years 
of his life, this great philosopher was employed in 
writing several works on subjects of public interest. 
Though labouring under great infirmity of con- 
stitution, he drew up, at the special request of 
William III., " a Scheme for the Comprehension of 
Protestant Dissenters within the National Church," 
an object which that enlightened monarch had much 
at heart. Several parts were added to his tract 
M on Toleration." Defences of his " Essay" were 
prepared, in reply to the animadversions of the 
Bishop of Worcester, Malebranche, Leibnitz, and 
others. To the above numerous list of his valuable 
writings, may be added his excellent tract on the 
" Conduct of the Understanding ;" " Memoirs of the 
Earl of Shaftesbury;" and " a Paraphrase and Notes 
on the Epistles of Paul." Some of these did not 
appear till after his death, which took place at 
Oates, within the hospitable mansion of Sir Francis 
Masham, on the 28th of October, 1704, in the 
seventy-third year of his age. 



CHAP. IVJ METAPHYSICAL SYSTEM OF LOCKE. 539 



Section XIII. 

SUMMARY VIEW OF THE METAPHYSICAL SYSTEM OF 

LOCKE. 

404. The "Essay on the Human Understanding" 
is too well known to render it necessary that an 
extended analysis of its important contents should 
be introduced into this elementary volume. It may 
be presumed, that most, if not all, who shall honour 
these pages with an attentive perusal, are familiar 
with the principal topics of which it treats, and are 
in the constant habit of referring to it, as a standard 
authority. All that is necessary for our present 
purpose, is to present a very brief outline of the 
subjects discussed in this admirable treatise, as the 
shortest and most practicable means of exhibiting a 
summary view of the metaphysical system of its 
author. 

In the first book, the question is discussed, whether 
there exist in the human understanding any innate 
notions or principles, whether speculative or prac- 
tical. The negative of that position is maintained 
and defended by a great variety of conclusive 
arguments, drawn from universal observation and 
experience, carefully guarding against hypotheses 
and a priori reasonings. In the second book, the 
author proceeds more directly to his proposed 
object — that of analyzing the phenomena and ope- 
rations of mind ; and he does this, by explaining 
the nature, and inquiring into the origin of ideas ; 



540 METAPHYSICAL SYSTEM OF LOCKE. [PART IV. 

all of which are distinctly traced to two grand 
sources, sensation and reflection : ideas in general 
are then classified under the heads of simple and 
complex ; the simple including those derived imme- 
diately from the senses, as colour, solidity, &c, or 
obtained by reflection, as our ideas of pleasure and 
pain, existence or being, unity, power, &c. ; the 
complex are subdivided into modes, substances, and 
relations. Among the former of these are enume- 
rated as simple modes, those of space, duration, 
infinity, number, with others that proceed more 
directly from sensation, such as sounds, tastes, 
colours, &c. Among the mixed modes are com- 
prehended most of the combinations of simple ideas, 
of which the mind is conscious, and of which lan- 
guage is, for the most part, composed. Under the 
next division of complex ideas — substances — are 
introduced many important and valuable distinc- 
tions, relative to the nature and properties of body 
and spirit. Under the third class of complex ideas, 
viz. relations, are included disquisitions into the 
relations of cause and effect, identity and diversity, 
good and evil, with their several varieties and 
modifications. In the third book, which is rather 
dialectic than metaphysical, the author proceeds to 
investigate language in general, and considers words 
as signs of ideas, under which logical division of 
the subject are introduced many important remarks 
on terms and propositions — on the use and abuse — 
the imperfection and improvement of language. 
The last book, which is, morally considered, the 
most important, treats of knowledge and opinion, of 



CHAP. 1V.3 METAPHYSICAL SYSTEM OF LOCKE. 541 

truth and evidence, of the grounds of human judg- 
ment, and the principles of human belief; con- 
cluding with some valuable sections on the province 
of reason as distinguished from that of faith, and 
the numerous sources of prejudice, error, or mental 
delusion. 

405. Such is the wide field of investigation on 
which this great philosopher enters, in his celebrated 
" Essay ;" including in one or other of its parts 
almost every topic that comes within the range of 
moral and intellectual science. To judge correctly, 
however, of its transcendant merits, we must not 
view it as it may now appear to the metaphysical 
inquirer, who possesses all the additional light and 
information which subsequent investigations have 
afforded. We must conceive of the science of mind, 
as it then existed, and endeavour to place ourselves 
in the position of those, who had just escaped from 
the trammels of Aristotle, or who were bewildered 
amidst the speculations of Des Cartes and Leibnitz ; 
for these were the great authorities who had then 
acquired an almost universal ascendancy, and to 
whose genius and talents a homage, almost amount- 
ing to idolatry, was rendered. We cannot wonder 
that, at first, the development of a new and more 
rational system should have attracted little atten- 
tion ; that many prejudices should have been armed 
against it ; and that, when promulgated to the 
world, it should have encountered great opposition. 

406. There were two prominent features of 
Locke's metaphysical system, which occasioned much 
controversy at the time, and respecting which the 



542 METAPHYSICAL SYSTEM OF LOCKE. [PART IV. 

opinions of metaphysical writers are still much 
divided ; these relate to the origin of ideas, and the 
powers of moral perception. Respecting the former 
of these, it is to be remembered, that there existed at 
that time, and still continue to exist, two grand 
classes, or rather schools of mental philosophers, 
which, for the sake of distinction, may be termed 
the Cartesians and the Gassendists. The Cartesians, 
(with whom, in this particular, Locke must be asso- 
ciated,) while they admit that a great part of our 
knowledge is' obtained by sensation, contend also 
that the mind acquires no inconsiderable portion of 
its knowledge by reflecting on itself and by atten- 
tively observing its own faculties and operations. 
The Gassendists assert, that all our ideas are derived 
from the senses, and that the intellectual phenomena 
admit of no other explanation than that which is fur- 
nished by analogies drawn from the material world, 
of which indeed it forms a part. The infidel philo- 
sophers of the two last centuries have laid claim to 
Locke, as the founder of their metaphysical systems, 
and affect to consider themselves his disciples ; but 
it were easy to prove, from numerous passages in his 
writings and correspondence, that the latter theory 
is diametrically opposed to this fundamental doctrine 
of his philosophical creed, and belongs rather to the 
school of Hobbes and Gassendi, than that of Locke.* 
407. The second of the principles adverted to, 
as characterizing Locke's system, bears more on 
ethics than metaphysics. From not having been 

* Stewart's Second Diss. pp. 16, 26. 



CHAP, ivj METAPHYSICAL SYSTEM OF LOCKE. 543 

well understood, and perhaps, in some instances, too 
loosely stated, many took alarm, and imagined that it 
involved moral consequences of the most dangerous 
kind. The train of arguments employed by Locke 
to prove that there are no innate principles, either 
speculative or practical, led some to imagine that 
his system was at variance with Scripture, and 
destructive of all natural religion and moral obliga- 
tion. On this ground it was vehemently attacked by 
Stillingfleet ; Lord Shaftesbury appears too, from 
some passages in his " Characteristics," to have 
formed the same apprehension. Nor those alone, 
but the illustrious and excellent Sir Isaac Newton, 
seems at first to have entertained similar fears, though 
he subsequently retracted that opinion, and acknow- 
ledged his error with all the ingenuousness of a true 
philosopher and sincere Christian.* But whoever 
attentively reads the " Essay" in question, must, it is 
conceived, be fully convinced that the consequences 
attempted to be drawn from this part of his system 
do not legitimately follow, and least of all, that the 
excellent author himself intended thereby to shake 
the foundations of natural religion. 



408. The retrospect which has been taken of 
the progress of human knowledge, in the two 

* In proof of this statement, Dugald Stewart has preserved 
two curious and interesting letters between these two greatest 
philosophers of the age, which do equal honour to both parties. 
Vide Second Diss. pp. 31, 32. 



544 CONCLUSION. [PART IV. 

great departments of physical and intellectual 
science, might naturally suggest to the mind a 
great variety of important reflections. The writer 
will not, however, prolong a work, already far 
too extended for an elementary treatise, by any 
lengthened train of observations ; and the rather 
as he is persuaded, that an attentive perusal of the 
preceding pages can scarcely fail to have produced 
a conviction of those great moral truths, which 
he is most anxious to impress on the minds of 
youth — a conviction founded not on human opinion 
merely, but on the evidence of facts : — that the 
causes which have operated, in all preceding ages, to 
perpetuate ignorance or to impede the progress 
of knowledge, were, either an undue deference to 
human authorities, or a disposition to speculate 
without evidence — that every solid and valuable 
attainment, and even the most stupendous dis- 
coveries, are to be attributed to the rigid adherence 
of those by whom they were made to the processes 
of induction and experiment — that, great as have 
been the attainments and discoveries of past ages, 
and mighty the powers of genius by which they 
were achieved, there is no reason to imagine that 
nothing further is to be expected ; for whoever pur- 
sues the track of inquiry marked out in the present 
volume, and takes a survey of the history of science, 
subsequently to the period at which this review 
terminates, will perceive, that there are vast regions 
yet unexplored, and still greater developments to 
be anticipated, as the reward of diligent investiga- 
tion in future ages ; — and finally, that on account of 



CHAP. IV.]] CONCLUSION. 545 

the present limitation of our faculties, and the 
necessary imperfection of our knowledge, it becomes 
us to pursue our investigations into the hidden 
processes of Nature, and still more, into the pro- 
found mysteries of Revelation, with a humble and 
devout mind ; earnestly imploring divine instruc- 
tion ; and joyfully anticipating the period, when 
" that which is perfect shall come, and that which 
is in part shall be done away." 



N N 



INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 



N. B. The numbers refer not to pages, but paragraphs. 



Abstinence, 145, 193. 

Abstract Sciences, (see Mathematics). 

Academics, sect of, 30, 67, 115, 118, 

119, 138, 147—153, 167, 174,229, 

230, 330. 
Academic Questions (Cicero's), 149. 
Academies of Science, 259, 337. 
Acoustics, 104. 
Acta Eruditorum (Leipsic Journal), 

332,391. 
'* Advancement of Learning" (Bacon's), 

360, 361. 
Affinities, chemical, 212, 226, 341. 
Air, nature and properties of, 102, 

224, 310, 312—314. 
Air-Pump, invention of, 225, 312, 

313, 345. 
Albertines, sect of the, 237. 
Alchemy, science of, 212, 213, 226, 

340, 363. 
Algebra, origin of, 33, 202 ; progress, 

206,215,246,256. 
Algebraists, Arabian, 202 — 204; 

European, 215 — 222; modern, 

245—267. 
Almagest, Ptolemy's, 88, 89, 205, 207, 

216,220. 
Almagest, New, 280. 
Alphabetical characters invented, 59. 
Alphonsine Tables (astronomical), 217. 
Ammonian school (see Eclectics). 
Analysis (geometrical), 72, 222, 245, 

265, 267. 
Analytics (of Aristotle), 113,122,123, 

127,128,135,14-1,236,238. 



Anima Mundifsee Philosophy of Plato), 
148, 150, 162. 

Antediluvians, knowledge of the, 1 3. 

Aphorisms, ancient, 27, 65, 172. 

Apodeictics (in logic), 127. 

Appetites, in ethics, 145, 184, 185, 
193. 

Aqueducts, ancient, 101. 

Arabian literature, 200 — 213. 

Architecture, ancient, 13, 14, 19, 36, 
42, 45. 

Arguments (in logic), 137. 

Arithmetic, origin of, 33 ; sexage- 
simal, 201,204; decimal, 201. 

Arithmetical Triangle, 258. 

Astrolabe, 206, 208, 216, 221. 

Astrology, judicial, 16, 17, 33, 38, 
54. 

Astronomia Instaurata (Copernicus') 
269. 

Astronomy, Chaldaean, 15, 16, 18; 
Chinese, 28; Indian, 33 ; Persian, 
41; Egyptian, 51; Phoenician, 55 ; 
Grecian, 70—89; Arabian, 205— 
208; European, in middle ages, 
214—222; modern, 268— 291. 

Astronomy, physical, 273, 289, 307. 

schools of, 207, 220, 271. 

Astronomical Tables, 86, 207, 208, 217, 

283, 284. 
Atheism, Atheists, 146, 386, 387. 
Atomic Philosophy, 58, 146, 357, 378, 

396. 
Attraction, law of, (see Gravitation). 

Electric, 341, 344. 

NN 2 



548 



INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 



Automata, 210,223. 
Axioms, 136, 305. 

Baconian Philosophy, 297,355—371, 

387, 401. 
Barometer, invention of, 310, 312. 
Being (in metaphysics), 148, 154, 155. 
Binomial Theorem, 264. 



Calendar, corrections of, 81, 87, 272, 

354. 
Camera Obscura, 225, 317. 
Canonica (of Epicurus), 115, 138. 
Cartesian System, 99, 278, 288, 310, 
314, 321, 336, 349, 357, 372—378, 
• 406. 
Categories (Aristotle's), 122, 124, 141, 

238, 366. 
Catenarian Curve, 261,303. 
Catoptrics, 332. 
Central Forces, 286, 289, 295, 298, 

300, 301, 303, 305, 306. 
Chemistry, science of, 53, 209, 226, 

238, 336, 339—343. 
Christian Philosophers, 386, 389. 
Chronology, 81,87,272,354. 
Chronometers, 224. 
Circle, quadrature of, 72, 76, 254, 260, 

264. 
Classification of Sciences, 6 — 11; an- 
cient philosophers, 66 — 68; scien- 
tific and intellectual Philosophers of 
middle ages, 199; ditto moderns, 
244. 
Clepsydrae, or Water-clocks, 100,210, 

223. 
Clocks, invention of, 224. 
Collision, laws of, 299, 306. 
Colonization of Greece, 60. 
Colours, doctrine of, 322, 331, 332, 

336. 
Colures, solstitial, 83. 
Composition of Forces, 295, 299, 303, 

304, 306. 
Comets, theory of, 16, 17, 80, 221, 

271,280,283,285. 
Commerce, 54, 55. 



Conflagration, final, 161. 

Conic Sections, 72, 77, 78, 203, 221, 

248,261. 
Constellations, ancient, 16, 28, 79; 

modern, 285. 
Continuity, law of, 195, 295, 395, 399. 
Copemican System, 269, 270, 275. 
Coronas, discovery and theory of, 280, 

330. 
Cosmogonies, 16, 57, 60, 61, 169. 
Criticism, progress of, 239, 242, 353, 

354. 
Cubation of solids, 254, 
Cube, duplication of, 71. 
Currency, tracts on, 402. 
Curves, nature of, 76, 253, 256, 260, 

262, 2&3. 
Cycles, 41, 81, 83; Metonic, 81. 
Cyclical Theory of Meteors, 87. 
Cycloids, properties of, 255—258, 260, 

261, 300, 306. 
Cylinder, treatises on, 76, 78, 221. 



Daemons, 145, 153, 164, 192. 
Data (Euclid's), 245. 
Definitions (in logic), 118, 122, 140. 
Deflection (see Inflection). 
Deluge, sera of, 13, 20, 23. 
Demiurgos, 152, 153. 
Demonstrations (Huet's and Clarke's), 
387, 389. 

Design of the work, 1, 5, 12. 

Dialectics, ancient, 7, 112—141, 357; 
of middle ages, 229, 234 ; modern, 
354, 357. 

Dialling, art of, 81, 82. 

Dialogues (of Plato), 119, 152. 

Diatonic Scale, 105. 

Differential Calculus, 261, 262, 264, 
266, 303, 392. 

Triangle, 260. 

Dioptrics, 318, 320, 330, 332. 

Dispersion of mankind, 14. 

Dissenters, comprehension of, 403. 

Disturbing Forces, 289. 

Divisions of the Work, 12,68, 199, 244. 

Dynamics, science of, 93, 292—307. 



INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 



549 



Earth, figure of, 289 ; measurement 
of, 83, 87, 205, 283; motions of, 
81, 82, 269, 277, 287, 288, 291. 

Eastern Nations, origin of, 21 ; philo- 
sophy, 13—59. 

Eclectics, sect of, 67, 167—170, 191— 
193, 212, 229, 237, 353, 357. 

Eclipses, theory of, 16, 28, 51, 207, 
208, 274, 284. 

Ecliptic, 79 ; obliquity of, 28, 205. 

Education, tracts on, 371, 402, 403. 

Electrical Machine invented, 345. 

Electricity, science of, 339, 344—346. 

Elements (astronomical), 87 ; Euclid's, 
70, 74, 75, 203, 216, 219, 247; 
of Geometry, 71, 72, 219. 

Epicurean Sect, 67, 115, 174, 187— 
190, 387. 

Equations (algebraic), 203, 205, 246, 
249, 252, 261, 265. 

Equilibria, laws of, 90, 91, 293, 303, 
308, 310. 

Equinoxes, precession of, 86, 206, 
208, 289. 

Essays (Bacon's), 371 ; (Montaigne's), 
387 ; (Locke's), 392, 401—405. 

Essences (in metaphysics), 154. 

Ethics, 7, 9, 11 ; Oriental, 23,27, 32, 
42, 46; Grecian, 64, 118, 132, 
171—193; Modern, 371, 378. 

Evection of the Moon, 89, 289. 

Evil, origin of, 165. 

Evolutes, theory of, 260. 

Exhaustions, method of, 76, 264. 

Eye, the human, 225, 316, 318, 321, 
332. 

Fabulous Ages of Greece, 60 — 65. 

Fate, Fatalism, 161, 165, 387. 

Feudal System, 241. 

Fire Worshippers, 27, 40. 

First Principle (in metaphysics), 169. 

Fluids, laws of, 95, 101, 308, 309— 

314. 
Fluxions, method of, 256, 260, 264, 

301, 303. 
Forces, (see Central). 
deflecting, 295—299. 



Forms, (in metaphysics), 365. 
Fountains, theory of, 99, 309. 
Friction, laws of, 299. 
Future State, notions of, 169. 

Galaxy, (see Via Lactea.) 

Gassendism, Gassendists, 387, 406. 

Genera and Species (in logic), 136. 

Geometry, origin of, 52, 69 ; progress 
of, 70—78, 203, 204, 216, 219— 
222,246—269; the new, 261— 267. 

Glass, invention of, 108, 110. 

Globes, invention of, 79, 208. 

Gnomon (see Quadrant), 79. 

God, nature of, 145, 148, 157, 169. 

Good, the chief (in ethics), 174, 175. 

Government, tracts on, 380—385,402. 

Grammar, universal, 369. 

Gravitation, law of, 33, 285—287, 
291, 307. 

Gravity, centre of, 91, 298, 306. 

Great Art (Lully's), 238. 

Year (Annus Magnus), 166. 

Gunpowder, invention of, 226. 

Halos, theory of, 106, 280. 
Happiness, source of, 175, 183, 187, 

188. 
Harmonic Scale, 104, 105. 
Heroes, 145. 
Hieroglyphics, 48, 49. 
Hierarchy, papal, 236, 241, 352. 
Hour Glasses, invention of, 100. 
Hydraulics, science of, 95—98, 99, 309. 

Engines, 99, 100, 101, 312. 

Hydrodynamics, science of, 95 — 101, 

308—314. 
Hydrostatics, science of, 95, 97, 308 

—314. 
Hydrostatical Paradox, 308. 
Hypostases (of Plato), 148, 150. 

Ideas, origin of, 134, 377, 387, 395, 
404,406; nature of,151; innate, 407. 

true and false (Arnauld's), 388. 

Idealists, 146. 

Idols (in Novum Organum), 363. 

Immutable Morality(Cudworth's), 389. 



550 



INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 



Indivisibles, method of, 254, 255, 257, 

264. 
Induction, method of, 118, 297, 35b 

361, 365, 408. 
Inertia (of matter), 274, 305, 814. 
Infidel Philosophers (modern), 386, 

387. 
Infinites, analysis of, 253, 260, 261, 

264, 302, 303. 
Inflection of Light, 280, 331, 338. 
Inquisition, court of, 277, 357. 
Instantise (of Lord Bacon), 366. 
Instauration of the Sciences, 341, 358, 

360. 
Intellectual System (Cudworth's)/389. 
Intelligibles (in logic), 118. 
Interpreters, or counselling Deities, 17. 
Invisible Lines, geometry of, 73. 
Ionic Sects, 67, 79, 112, 143, 144, 146. 
Italic Sect, 67, 143, 145, 146, 172. 

Julian Period, 354 ; Year, 87. 
Jurisprudence, science of, 241, 371, 
379—385, 391. 

Language, origin of, 135 ; corruption 

of, 197 ; theory of, 369. 
Laws of Nations, (see Jurisprudence.) 
Lenses, invention and uses of, 109, 110, 

225, 316, 324—328. 
Leviathan (Hobbes'), 383, 387. 
Liberty and Necessity, 389, 393. 
Library (Alexandrian), 83, 196. 
Libraries (monastic), 239, 242. 
Librations (of the moon), 289. 
Light, properties of, 106, 107, 225, 

306, 325, 326, 331, 333—338. 

velocity of, 284, 321. 

Literature, oriental, 15—20, 23 — 29, 

34, 42, 45, 47, 49, 56. 

decay of, 194 — 198; revi- 
val of, 238—243, 353, 354, 358. 

Load-stone (magnet), 227. 
Logarithms, invention of, 251, 274. 
Logic, (see Dialectics). 

Mechanical, 238. 

Logos (of Plato), 148; of the Stoics, 
161. 



Magian System, 15, 17, 19, 36, 

41, 54. 
Magnetism, 227, 344. 
Man, nature of, 145, 163. 
Manuscripts (ancient), 239, 353, 354. 
Maps, construction of, 79. 
Mariner's Compass, discovery of, 227. 
Material System, 149, 169, 377. 
Materialism, 387, 
Mathematics, history of, 19, 52, 69 — 

78, 200—204, 215—222, 245— 

267, 351. 
Maxima et Minima, 256, 262. 
Maxims, moral, 172, 174. 
Mechanics, 85, 90 — 92, 94, 209, 

223, 292—307. 
Medicine, science of, 53, 206, 213, 

238. 
Meditations, Philosophical (of Des 

Cartes), 374. 
Mensuration, art of, 69, 70. 
Meridian Line, measurement of, 51, 

283. 
Metaphysics (ancient), 7, 11, 38, 50, 

113, 142—146; of middle ages, 

229—239; modern, 370, 377, 394 

—407. 
Metaphysical Theology, (see Scholas- 
tics,) 31, 39, 50. 
Meteors, theory of, 106. 
Micrographia (Hooke's), 341. 
Micrometer, invention of, 281. 
Microscopes, invented or improved, 

323, 328. 
Mills, invention of, 302. 
Mind, the human, 11, 12, 144, 148, 

154, 158, 163, 169, 192, 370, 377. 

the Divine, 148, 154, 157. 

Mirrors, construction of, 108 ; burn- 
ing, 109. 
Monads, theory of, 349, 357, 395, 396. 
Moon, motions of, 208,269— 271,276. 
Morals, (see Ethics.) 
Moral Sense, 173, 407. 
Motion, laws of (Kepler's), 273, 289, 

294, 295 ; Newton's, 304, 305, 394 

—399, 404, 407. 
Music, invention of, 13, 104, 105. 



INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 



551 



Nature (in metaphysics), 149, 161, 

184. 

History of (Bacon's), 362. 

Navigation, art of, 54, 55, 227, 302, 

314. 
Necessity (Philosophical), 387. 
Newtonian Philosophy, 289, 304 — 

307, 333—338, 347—351. 
Nominalists, sect of, 235, 236, 238. 
Novum Organum (Lord Bacon's), 360, 

361—368,401. 

Observatories (Astronomical), 82, 196, 

205, 271, 285. 
CEconomics (in ethics), 174. 
Offices (in morals), 186. 
Optics (ancient), 106—111; (middle 
ages) 211, 225 ; (modem) 315—338. 
Optimism, doctrine of, 395, 398. 
Opus Majus (Roger Bacon's), 226, 324 
Orbit, Solar, 206 ; Lunar, 269—271; 

Planetary, 270—274. 
Organon (Aristotle's), 122—130. 
Organum Novum (Lord Bacon's), 

361—368. 
Orphic Hymns, 61, 62. 
Oscillation, centre of, 300, 301, 303, 

306. 

Pantheism, Pantheists, 31, 146, 387. 

Paper Mills, invention of, 224. 

Parallaxes (in astronomy), 86, 274, 
281. 

Parhelia, 280, 330. 

Passions (in ethics), 177, 182, 185, 
373,377. 

Pendulum, vibrations of, 289, 295, 
300, 301, 306. 

Percussion, laws of, 299, 306. 

Period, Calippic, 81 ; Julian, 354. 

Peripatetic Sect, 67, 73, 82, 106, 115, 
120—132, 138, 139, 154 — 159, 
167, 174, 179—183, 186, 230,236 
—238, 341, 353, 355—357, 366. 

Pharmacy, {see Medicine), 213. 

Philology, {see Criticism). 

Philosopher's Stone, {see Alchemy). 

Philosophy (oriental), 27, 31, 39, 50. 



Philosophy of Plato, 116—119, 147— 

153, 175—179. 
of Aristotle, 120 — 131, 

154—159, 180—186. 
of Bacon, 297, 355—371, 



387, 401. 

of Des Cartes, 372—378. 

of Leibnitz, 394—399. 

of Locke, 400—407. 

of Newton, 289, 304—307, 



333—338, 347—351. 
Philosophy (experimental), 237, 297, 

316, 339—347, 351, 362. 
Philosophical Transactions, 267, 331, 

336—338. 
Phlogiston, theory of, 343. 
Phosphorus, discovery of, 343. 
Physics (ancient), 7, 9, 23, 28, 33, 

53, 79, 118, 130—133; (middle 

ages), 199, 223—228. 
Physiological Remains, (Bacon's), 344. 
Planetary Motions, 84, 270 — 274, 

278—283, 290, 291, 307, 318. 
Planets, discovery of, 16, 79, 271. 
Platonists, {see Academics) ; Latter, 

167. 
Plenum, Cartesian notion of, 314, 

321, 378, 396. 
Pneumatics, 102, 221,312—314. 
Political Science, {see Jurisprudence). 
Predicables (in logic), 141. 
Pre-established Harmony, doctrine of, 

392, 395, 397. 
Primary Mover, 156. 
Prince (Machiavel's), 380. 
Principia (Newton's), 265, 288, 304 

—307, 314. 

(Des Cartes'), 374. 

Prism, Prismatic Colours, 334, 335. 
Printing, art of, 228, 242. 
Projectiles, doctrine of, 296, 299, 306. 
Propositions (in logic), 125, 136, 140. 
Proverbial Maxims, 42, 64, 65, 171, 

172. 
Provincial Letters (Pascal's), 258, 354. 
Ptolemaic System, 88, 219, 269, 270, 

275. 
Pumps, invention of, 99. 



552 



INDEX TO SUBJECTS. 



Pyramids (Egyptian), 51, 70. 
Pythagoreans, (see Italic Sect). 

Quadrant, 79, 208, 281. 

Quadrature of Circles, or Curvilinear 

Figures, 72, 76, 254 — 258, 260— 

264. 
Quadrivium, 231. 

Rainbow, theory of, 106, 225, 280, 

316, 319,331. 
Re-absorption, notion of, 31, 40, 60, 

163. 
Realists, sect of, 235, 236, 238. 
Reason, Reasoning, 137, 140, 151, 

161. 
Rectification of Curves, 260. 
Reflection, laws of, 106, 319, 327, 

330, 333—337. 
Reformation (literary), 354 — 358. 
(Protestant), 238, 243, 

354, 357. 
Refraction, theory and laws of, 107, 

111, 211,225,271,280,318—320, 

330, 332—337. 
Refrangibility of Light, 327, 334, 

335, 337. 
Revival of Letters, (see Literature), 

198, 238—243. 

Sabian System, 36, 45. 

Sacramentarian Controversy, 236. 

Sacred Books, 24—26, 38. 

Satellites, discovery of, 276, 282, 283, 
377. 

Saturn's Ring, 276, 282. 

Scala Intellectus (of Lord Bacon), 
360—362. 

Sceptics, sect of (ancient), 146; (mo- 
dern), 386, 387. 

Scholastics, 199, 218, 223, 229, 
234—238, 262, 352—354, 358. 

Schools, public, 234—236, 242, 357. 

Science distinguished from Philosophy, 
3, 4. 

Scientific Philosophers (ancient), 67 ; 
(middle ages), 199; (modern), 244. 

Scotists, sect of, 237, 238. 



Screw of Archimedes (in mechanics), 

98. 
Scriptures, translations and editions of, 

238, 242, 243, 353, 354. 
Search after Truth (Malebranche's) 

388. 
Sentences, Book of, (Lombard's), 236. 
Seven Arts, (quadrivium and trivium), 

231. 
Sidereal Time, 206. 
Societies, philosophical, 259, 271, 337, 

374. 
Socratic Philosophy, 114 — 117. 
Solar System, 33, 51, 80, 85, 269, 
276, 286—291. 

Year, 79, 86. 

Solids, doctrine of, 73, 95, 254. 

Solstices, 79, 85, 208, 272. 

Sophisms (in logic), 113, 119, 122, 

129,137. 
Sophists, 114—116, 119, 122, 130— 

132, 139, 236—238. 
Sorbonne, college of, 237, 354. 
Soul (the human), 31, 39, 42, 142— 

145, 152, 158, 159, 169, 180. 
Spectacles, invention of, 225. 
Spheres (crystalline), 82 ; of Eu- 

doxus, 82. 
Spherics, doctrine of, 78, 79, 203, 216. 
Spinozism, system of, 387. 
Spirit of Laws, (Montesquieu's), 385. 
Springs, metallic, invention of, 301. 
Stars, fixed, 28, 55, 80, 82, 84, 220, 
276; number of, 84, 86, 87, 89, 
271, 285. 
Statics, 93, 94, 293, 295. 
Steam-engine, invention of, 302. 
Stoics, sect of, 67, 107,115, 132—138, 
160—166, 167, 174, 184—186,190, 
353, 357. 
Sun, aspect and distance of, 85, 276, 

280. 
Syllogisms, in logic, 118, 126, 127, 

141. 
Symbols, origin of, 172. 
Syphons, invention of, 99. 
System of the World (Copernicus') 
277, 



INDEX TO SUBJECTS, 



553 



Telescopes, invention of, 110, 274, 

281, 315, 322—327. 

astronomical, 326. 

reflecting, 327, 337. 

Terms (in logic), 123. 

Theism (ancient), 40, 43. 

Theodicea (of Leibnitz), 393, 394, 

397. 
Theogony, 60, 63. 
Theurgic Art, 193. 
Thomists, sect of, 237. 
Thoughts (Pascal's), 258, 389. 
Tides, theory of, 282, 289. 
Time, measurement of, 80, 86, 206, 

301. 
Toleration, tracts on, 381, 402, 403. 
Topics (in logic), 122. 
Toricellian Tube, {see Barometer.) 
Transits of Mercury and Venus, 279, 

285. 
Transmigration, doctrine of, 31, 145, 

163. 
Transmutation of Metals, 212, 213. 
Triangles, properties of, 72, 247, 248. 



Trigonometry, art of, 78, 85, 87, 203, 

204,207, 220,221,249. 
Trivium (scholastics), 231. 

Vacuum, Cartesian notion of, 310, 311, 
377. 

Virtual Velocities, 295. 

Virtues (in ethics), divine, 192; so- 
cial, 172, 178, 186; private, 172, 
176, 180, 186, 189; nature of, 172, 
176, 192, 378. 

Vision, theory of, 106, 211, 225, 316, 
318,321, 332, 333. 

Universe (in metaphysics), 162. 

Vortices (of Des Cartes), 349, 377, 
378. 

Utopia (of Sir Thomas More), 354. 

Water-clocks, 100, 210, 223; mills, 
100. 

World, its nature and origin, 169. 

Zodiacal signs, 16, 17, 28, 79. 
Zones of the Earth, 79. 



INDEX OF NAMES. 



N. B. The numbers refer not to pages, but paragraphs. 



Abbo,232. 

Abelard, 235, 236, 238. 

Abou-Giafar, 205. 

Abraham, 14, 36, 43, 50. 

JEgeus, 195. 

Al-haroun, 205, 210, 223, 224. 

Al-maimon, 205. 

Al-mansor, 205, 207, 210. 

Albategni, 204, 206. 

Albert (the Great), 223, 224, 236— 

238. 
Alcuinus, 231. 
Alexander (of Macedon), 74, 82—84, 

120. 
Alfarabi, 232, 233. 
Alfragan, 206. 
Alfred (the Great), 231. 
Alhazen, 211, 216, 315. 
Alkendi, 206. 
Aloysius Lilius, 272. 
AlphonsusIJ. (Spain), 217. 
Ammonius, 168, 195. 
Anaxagoras, 67, 144, 286. 
Anaximander, 67, 79. 
Anaximenes, 67. 
Angelo (of Florence), 222. 
Annius (of Viterbo), 20. 
Anselm (Abp.), 233, 236. 
Antheraius, 94, 109. 
Antisthenes, 67. 

Antoninus (Marc. Aurel.), 132, 163. 
Aphrodiscus, 195. 
Apolloniates, Diogenes, 67. 
Apollonius, 74, 77, 78, 203, 221,248. 
Apuleius, 62. 

Aquinas (Thomas), 223, 237, 238. 
Arabia, Arabs, 21, 43 — 46, 200 — 

222. 



Aratus, 84. 

Arcesilaus, 67. 

Archiates, 72. 

Archimedes, 74—78, 86, 90—94, 96 
—98, 107, 109, 203, 210, 224, 
247, 254, 264, 293, 315. 

Argyropulus, 239, 242. 

Arimanius, 40. 

Aristarchus, 84 — 86, 247. 

Aristeus, 72. 

Aristillus, 84. 

Aristippus, 67. 

Aristotle, 15, 16, 64, 73, 82, 83, 90, 
93, 103, 106 — 116, 120—127, 
131, 132, 135, 137, 138, 141, 143, 
154—159, 172, 180—183, 197, 
216, 221, 229, 230, 232, 233, 
235—239, 243, 262, 270, 277, 
341, 352—358, 363, 371, 378, 
401, 405. 

Aristophanes, 108. 

Arnauld (Anthony), 388. 

Arsachel, 207. 

Assyria, 13, 15. 

Athenagoras, 168. 

Augustine, 197, 229—231, 237. 

Averroes, (of Corduba), 207, 232, 
233. 

Avicenna, 213, 232, 233. 

Azir-ben-hakem, 208. 

Babylonia, Babylon, 15, 19, 20. 
Bacon (Roger), 216, 224—226, 237, 

293, 315, 324. 
Bacon (Lord Chancellor), 3, 8, 120, 

226, 297, 338, 340, 341, 344, 

354—371, 372, 381, 386, 387, 

401. 



INDEX OF NAMES, 



555 



Bailly, 33. 

Baldric, 232. 

Barrow (Dr.), 260, 264, 265, 332, 

348, 386, 389. 
Bayle (P.) 387, 392, 393. 
Bee (School of), 236. 
Beccher, 341, 343. 
Bede (the Venerable), 231. 
Benedetto, 222. 
Berenger, 233, 236. 
Bernard, 222, 236. 
Bernoulli (James and John), 261, 

285, 303, 348. 
Berosus, 16, 20. 
Bessarion (Cardinal), 242. 
Bianchini, 222. 
Bias (of Priene), C4, 65. 
Blancanus, 73. 
Boccacio, 239, 242. 
Bochart, 387. 
Bodinus, 381. 
Boerhaave, 341, 343. 
Boethius, 231, 232, (note). 
Boinbelli, 247. 
Bonaventure, 237. 
Borellus, 324. 
Boyle (Hon. Robert), 313, 314, 328, 

332, 341, 344. 
Brahma, Brahmins, 34. 
Bramhall (Abp.), 389. 
Brandt, 341, 343. 
Bridfurth, 232. 
Briggs (Henry), 251. 
Brouncker, 260. 

Brown (Sir Thomas), 344, (note). 
Bruno (of Cologne), 233, 236. 
Bruno (of Naples), 357,358. 
Buchanan, 383. 
Budaeus, 242, 353, 354. 
Buddha, Buddhists, 29, 34. 
Burgo (Lucas de), 219. 
Burley, 238. 
Byrge (Justus), 251. 

Cadmus, 59. 

Caesar, Julius, 87, 196, 362. 
Calippus, 81. 
Callisthenes, 83. 



Campanella, 357,358. 

Campani, 327,337. 

Campanus, 216. 

Capella, 231. 

Cardan, 202,246,247. 

Carneades, 67. 

Cassini (elder), 283,284; (younger), 

285. 
Cassiodorus, 231. 
Castelli, 309. 

Cavalleri, 254, 255, 257, 264. 
Celsus, 191. 
Chalcidius, 231. 
Chaldaea, 15—20,59,79. 
Champeaux, 235, 236. 

Charlemagne, 210,223. 

Charles I. (of England) 374 ; Charles 
II. 285. 

Charpentain, 357. 

Chilon, 64, 65. 

China, 21—29,60. 

Christina (Queen of Sweden), 374. 

Chrysippus, 163, 165, 184. 

Chrysoloras, 239, 242. 

Cicero, 67,76, 84, 117, 132, 149, 160, 
235, 362. 

Clarke (Dr. Samuel), 386,389,393. 

Cleanthes, 163, 184. 

Clemens Alexandrinus, 62, 168, 191, 
195, 229. 

Cleobulus (of Rhodes), 64, 65. 

Cleomedes, 83,87. 

Cleostratus, 81. 

Colet (Dean), 354. 

Columna, 237. 

Commandine, 77, 247. 

Confucius (Kung-foo-tzee), 23—27, 
191. 

Conon, 76. 

Constantine, 232. 

Copernicus, 85, 249, 269, 270, 273, 
276, 277, 279, 287, 294. 

Ctesibius, 94, 99. 

Ctesiphon, 90. 

Cudworth, 57, 386. 

Cumberland, 389. 

Cusa (Nicholas de), 219. 

Cyrus, 40. 



556 



INDEX OF NAMES. 



D'Alembert, 6, 8. 

Damascenus, Joannes, 231. 

Damian, 233. 

Darius Hystaspes, 37. 

De La Hire, 303, 332. 

D'Hopital (Marquis), 261. 

Democritus, 58, 71, 146, 378. 

Des Cartes, 109, 253, 254, 257, 278, 
279, 299, 300, 318, 320,321, 324, 
332, 349, 357, 372—378, 386— 
388, 395, 397, 401, 405, 406. 

De Thou (Thuanus), 381. 

Digby (Sir Kenelm), 344. 

Diodes, 78. 

Diodorus Siculus, 15, 17, 61,98, 108, 
109. 

Diogenes Laertius, 61, 70, 144, 160, 
161, 172, 286. 

Diogenes (the Cynic), 67, 184. 

Dionysius (the geographer) 33. 

Diophantus, 202, 215, 256. 

Divini (Eustachio), 337. 

Dobrell, 328. 

Dominis (Antonio de), 318, 319. 

Donatus, 228. 

Duns Scotus, 237, 238. 

Dunstan, 232. 

Dupin, 236, 238. 

Durandus, 228, 238. 



Ebn.Younis, 204,208. 
Edward III. (of England), 238. 
Egypt, 14, 15, 47—53, 59, 61, 69, 

79, 117, 340. 
Empiricus Sextus, 132. 
Engelius, 222. 
Epictetus, 132, 160, 163. 
Epicurus, 58, 67, 138, 139, 146, 187 — 

190, 239, 378. 
Epimenides, 64. 
Erasmus, 242, 243, 353, 354. 
Eratosthenes, 76, 83, 85. 
Erigena (Joannes Scotus), 232. 
Esculapius, 53. 
Esop, 46. 
Euclid (ofMegara), 67. 



Euclid (the geometrician), 70, 74, 75, 
111, 201, 203, 204, 216, 219 (note), 
245, 247, 264. 

Euctemon, 81. 

Eudemus, 73. 

Eudoxus, 72,82. 

Eusebius, 57, 62, 168. 

Eustrathius, 230. 

Eutocius (of Ascalon), 77. 

Faber (Le Fevre), 353, 354. 

Faustus (Geinsfleiches), 228. 

Ferdinand (of Corduba), 222. 

Fermat, 256,260,264. 

Fernel, 250. 

Ferrari, 246. 

Flamsteed, 285. 

Fo-hi, 28. 

Frederick II. (Emperor of Germany), 

216,220. 
Frontinus (Sextus Julius), 101. 
Fulbert, 236. 

Galileo, 99, 219, 249, 254, 255, 270, 
275—279, 282, 287, 294—296, 
298, 301, 309—311, 324—326, 
328, 339, 367. 

Galius (Alexander), 228. 

Gassendi, 279, 344, 348, 386, 387, 
406. 

Gaza (Theodore de), 242. 

Geber (Albategni), 204, 206, 216. 

(Ben Aphla), 204, 213. 

■ (of Grenada), 207. 

Gelibrand, 251. 

Geminus, 87. 

Gengis-Khan, 208. 

Gerard (de Cremona), 216. 

Gerbert, 201, 223, 232, 293. 

Germanicus, 84. 

Gilbert (de Porretan), 236. 

(of Colchester), 344. 

Girard (Albert), 250, 252, 293. 

Glauber, 341, 343. 

Gmunden, 220. 

Greece, 30, 59, 66, 112, 117, 143, 
144, 146, 147, 150, 153, 160, 171. 



INDEX OF NAMES. 



557 



Gregory, James (of Aberdeen), 260, 

262,327, 337. 
Gregory (Pope), 237, 272. 
Grimaldi, 280, 331, 338. 
Grocyn, 354. 

Grosteste (Greathead), 237. 
Grotius, 382, 384. 
Guericke" (Otto de), 312, 313, 345. 
Gunther, 251. 
Guthenberg, 228. 

Haarlem, 228. 
Hadramut, 45. 
Hafiz, 39. 

Hales, 236, 237, 341, 342. 
Halley (Dr.), 77, 78, 285. 
Harriotte, 252. 
Heraclitus, 67, 132. 
Herennius, 168. 
Herman, 232, 233. 
Hermes, 49, 56. 
Hero, 94, 99, 221, 247. 
Herodotus, 52. 
Hesiod, 61, 63. 
Hevelius, 280, 285. 
Hicetas, 81. 
Hiero, 91, 92, 97. 
Hierocles, 145, 168. 

Hincmar, 23S. 

Hindoo, 56, 170, (see India.) 

Hipparchus, 16, 84, 86, 87, 89, 206, 
271. 

Hippocrates, 71. 

Hobbes, 357, 383, 386, 387, 406. 

Homberg, 226. 

Homer, 63. 

Hooke, 285-287, 301, 314, 327, 331, 
337, 338, 341. 

Horrox, 27). 

Hortensius, 320. 

Houlager than, 208. 

Huetius, 337. 

Hume, 38*. 

Hushang, 36. 

Huss, Join, 235. 

Huygens, 260, 262, 264, 267, 281 — 
283, 289, 300, 301, 314, 327, 328, 
330, 3f4, 336, 339, 367. 



Hypatia, 89. 
Hysicles, 73. 

Jamblichus, 57, 168, 170. 

Jans (Jansen), 324, 328. 

Jerome, 195. 

India, 21, 30—34, 60. 

Ingulph, 233. 

Joannes Scotus (Erigena), 232. 

John of Alexandria, 230. 

of Salisbury, 232, 236. 

Jones (Sir W.), 10, 15, 21—23, 30 — 

33, 35, 39, 42, 43. 
Josephus, 13, 20. 
Iran, 17, 22, 36. 

Isidorus, 73, 168; of Seville, 230. 
Isis, 53. 

Julian (Rom. Emp.), 168. 
Justinian, 109. 
Justin, Martyr, 145. 

Kant, 394. 

Kepler, 249, 254, 273, 274, 278, 

279, 283, 287, 289, 291, 294—296, 

318, 320, 326, 367. 
Khalifs, 196, 198, 200, 204, 205. 
Kircher, 318, 320, 322. 

Lanfranc, 233, 236. 

Lascario, 242. 

Laurentius (De Valla), 228. 

Le Clerc, 403. 

Leibnitz, 261, 262, 264—267, 302, 
332, 339, 348, 349, 351, 357, 387, 
389, 390—399, 403, 405. 

Lemery (the elder), 341, 343. 

Leodamus, 72. 

Leonardo (De Pisa), 215. 

Leucippus, 146. 

Lewenhoek, 328. 

Linacre, 354. 

Linus, 61. 

Livy, 109, 235. 

Locke, 9, 134, 147, 387—389, 392, 
393, 395, 400—407. 

Lokmann, 46. 

Lombard (Peter), 236, 237. 

Longinus, 168. 



558 



INDEX OF NAMES. 



Louis XL, 235. 
Lucas (De Burgo), 219. 
Lucretius, 286. 

Ludovicus Vives, 235, 242, 353, 354. 
Lully (Raymond), 238. 
Luther, 243, 354, 355, 357, 358, 
380. 

Machiavel, 379—381, 383. 

Macrobius, 168. 

Magentinus, 230. 

Mahabad, 36. 

Mahomet, 195, 200. 

Malebranche, 151, 388, 403. 

Manetho, 48, 49. 

Manilius, 87. 

Marcellus, 109. 

Marriotte, 332. 

Maurice (de Nassau), 373. 

Maurolycus, 248, 316—318. 

Maurus, 232. 

Maximilian (of Bavaria), 373. 

Mayow, 341, 342. 

Media, 20, 79. 

Medici, 239. 

Melancthon, 242, 243, 353, 354. 

Menechmus, 72. 

Menelaus, 78, 87, 203. 

Mentz, 223; Elector of, 391. 

Mercator, 260. 

Metius, 275, 324. 

Meton, 81. 

Mochus, Moschus, 57. 

Mohammed Ben Musa, 202, 204. 

Mohsan, 42. ' 

Montaigne, 387. 

Montesquieu, 379, 381, 385. 

More (Sir Thomas), 242, 353, 354. 

More (Dr. Henry), 389. 

Moses, 13, 14, 20, 36, 47, 54, 57, 58, 

149, 212. 
Muller (see Regiomontanus.) 

Nanno, 232, 233. 

Napier (Baron), 251, 252. 

Nassir (Eddin), 208. 

Neleus, 121. 

Nemorarius ( Jordanus), 2 1 6. 



Newton (Sir Isaac), 76, 79, 98, 261— 
267, 274, 285— 291, 297, 303—307, 
314, 315, 319, 327, 330—339, 341, 
346—351, 367, 389, 393, 40T. 

Nicephorus, 230. 

Nicholas (De Cusa), 219. 

Nichomachus, 105, 180, 201. 

Nineveh, 19. 

Nizolius, 358. 

Nonius, 247. 

Occam, 236, 238. 
GEnopidus, 71. 
Oldenberg, 265, 266, 337. 
Ommiades, 207. 
Origen, 168, 191, 195, 229. 
Oromasdes, 40. 
Orpheus, 61, 62. 

Pahlavi, 42. 

Panaetius, 184. 

Pantasnus, 168. 

Pappus, 77, 78, 94, 109, 195, 247. 

Parmenides, 146. 

Pascal, 256, 258, 260, 262, 264, 302, 
308, 311, 314, 354, 386, 389. 

Patricius, 358. 

Peletarius, 247. 

Pemberton, 288. 

Periander (of Corinth), 64, 65. 

Persepolis, 42. 

Persia, 20, 21, 35—42, J9. 

Petavius, 16. 

Petrarcha, 239, 242. 

Phaedo, 67. 

Phoenicia, 54 — 58. 

Philip III. (of France), 2^7. 

Philobiblius, 56. 

Philolaus, 81. 

Photius, 230. 

Picard (Abb£), 283. 

Pittacus (of Mitylene), 64, 65. 

Plato, 31, 38, 57, 64, 67, fl, 72, 74, 
78, 82, 103, 106, 116-^120, 126, 
131, 132, 139, 143, jl46 — 153, 
157, 159, 160, 165, 167*168, 170, 
173—176, 178—180, l|l, 229— 
231, 235, 236, 239, 315J355. 



INDEX OF NAMES. 



559 



Pletho, 242. 

Pliny, 86, 108, 344, (note.) 

Plotinus, 168—170. 

Plutarch, 16, 49—51, 92, 108, 109, 

151, 160, 164, 286. 
Poggio Bracciolini, 239, 242. 
Polybius, 92, 109. 
Porphyry, 56, 122, 168, 191, 192, 

195, 238. 
Porta (Baptista), 316—318. 
Posidonius, 57, 87, 184. 
Potamo, 67, 168. 
Proclus, 62, 71, 72, 75, 78, 168, 

195. 
Psellus (elder and younger), 230. 
Ptolemy Philadelphus, 49, 75, 84, 

121, 196, 216, 220, 221, 315. 
(Astronomer), 85, 88, 89, 

110, 111, 195, 201, 205, 217, 219, 

247, 269—271, 277, 280. 
Puffendorf, 384. 
Purbach, 220, 221, 245, 279. 
Pyrrho, 67. 
Pythagoras, 33, 51, 58, 67, 69, 70, 

74, 79—81, 103, 105, 106, 132, 

145, 153, 160, 163, 172, 179, 191, 

219, 269, 286, 353. 



Schottus, 312, 313. 

Schultens, 45. 

Selden, 383. 

Seneca, 16, 107, 110, 132, 160, 161, 

163, 166, 238. 
Serapis, 53. 
Serenus, 78, 221. 
Sesostris, 52. 

Shaftesbury, Earl of, 401, 403, 407. 
Snellius, 318, 320. 
Socrates, 67, 108, 114, 117, 147, 173, 

174, 179. 
Solomon, 14, 46, 52, 237. 
Solon, 64, 65. 

Sorbonne (Robert de), 237, 354. 
Sosigenes, 87. 
Speusippus, 67. 
Spinoza, 387. 
Stahl, 341, 343. 
Stevinus, 293, 308. 
Stillingfleet, 407. 
Stiphelius, 247. 
Strame (Ulmar), 224. 
Strasburg, 228. 
Sydenham, 401. 
Sylvester II. (see Gerbert). 
Syncellus, 20. 



Ramus, 357, 358. 

Recorde, 247. 

Regiomontanus, 221, 222, 245, 279. 

Remigius, 232. 

Reuchlin, 353, 354. 

Rheita, 327. 

Riccioli, 280. 

Richard (de Swineshead), 213. 

Richer, 285. 

Roberval, 255, 257, 264. 

Ro6mer, 284, 302. 

Rome, 67, 121. 

Romulus, 18. 

Rosceline, 233, 236, 238. 

Sacrobosco, 216. 

Sanchoniatho, 49, 56. 

Sanscrit, 45. 

Scaliger (Julius Caesar) , 353, 354. 

Scheiner, 318, 321, 326, 327. 



Tamerlane, 208. 

Tartaglia, 246. 

Tenison (Abp.), 389. 

Tertullian, 195, 229. 

Thoeetetus, 72. 

Thales, 64—67, 69, 70, 74, 79, 103, 

238, 344, (note). 
Thebit, 206. 
Theodoret, 56. 
Theodosius, 78, 203. 
Theon, 71, 89. 

Theophrastus, 73, 121, 344, (note). 
Timocharis, 84. 
Toricelli, 99, 255, 264, 298, 309— 

311, 313, 314. 
Trebizond, 242. 
Trismegistus, 49. 
Tycho Brahe, 208, 270, 27 1, 273, 2^9, 

320. 
Tzetzes, 92, 109. 



560 



INDEX OF NAMES. 



Varignon, 303. 

Ubaldi, 293. 

Vieta, 249, 250, 252, 253. 

Vitello (of Poland), 225, 315. 

Vitruvius, 98, 100. 

Vlacq, Hadrian, 251. 

Ulugh Beg, 208. 

Wallingford, 224. 

Wallis, 98, 202, 260, 262, 264—266. 

301, 302. 
Walther, ( 222. 
Werner, 222, 245. 
Wesalia (John de), 235. 
Wickliffe, 238. 
Wilkins, 389. 
William (Landgrave of Hesse), 272. 



William III. (of England), 403. 
Worcester, Marquis of, 302. 
Wren (Sir Christopher), 301. 
Wykeham (William de), 242. 

Xenocrates, 67. 
Xenophon, 67, 173. 
Xenophanes, 67, 146. 

Zeno(the Stoic), 67, 114, 116, 132— 
135, 137, 139, 146, 160 — 166, 
184—186. 

Zenodorus, 71. 

Zonaras, 109. 

Zoroaster (Zerdusht), Chaldean, 20, 
37 ; Persian, 36—38, 40, 42, 191. 



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THE END. 



LONDON 1 
PRINTED BY R. CLAY, DEVONSHIRE STREET, BISHOPSGATE. 



